Andrea was gone over the weekend. I attempted to tidy up the house before she returned. A few hours after she got home she posed the disheartening question, “Did you clean?
Yes.
“Okay, I thought you might have. Thank you.”
It takes a while for her to figure it out. My male ineptitude prohibits me from leaving the sparkle on the facade of each recently attended object. I don’t clean. I pick up. Cleaning is a task way beyond my competencies.
But picking up isn’t a bad thing. Men do it all the time. Women shop, while men pick up a few things. Ladies hope to attract men, while fellas are content to pick up chicks. Women develop routines, men pick up habits. Women want friends who understand how they feel, while men are satisfied if friends can “pick up what they are putting down.”
Athletic men play pick up games. Brawny men drive pick up trucks. Single men use pick up lines. Men without education pick up some classes. Men without money pick up an extra shift.
It is hard to say why males regress to this elevated expression. Maybe it is because dads summoned boys out to the open-hooded car under the promise of picking up a thing or two. Or perhaps it is a reaction against chromosomal counterparts who insist on letting their hair down, falling in love, and dropping head over heels. He just feels the need to lift something. And when her heart is broken, soul is crushed, spirit is dampened, and self-esteem is battered, she hopes that a man will be around to help pick up the pieces.
Now only if he knew where she keeps the broom and dust pan.
4 Comments
November 11, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Your humor is always a real pick-me-up.
November 11, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I like the way he came full circle at the end, picking up where he left off…
November 11, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Where do you come up with these things? Seriously awesome…
November 12, 2008 at 2:52 pm
And “real” men drive pick up trucks.