WOMEN : RONZONI : TIME CONSUMING :: MEN : EGGOS : FAST AND EASY

The subject at a recent Tuesday morning meeting of Living, our community magazine, was the June issue and June weddings. The topic at hand: should the magazine run some of the staff’s wedding pictures? Before and after? Well, maybe, maybe not. We got to talking about how couples function together. It’s a physical and mental dance.

Fingers interlaced and wriggling, one of our community’s contributors described the minds of women. To paraphrase: “They’re like spaghetti, running in all directions.” Then, index finger jabbing there, there, there, he described men’s minds. Again, paraphrasing, “They’re like waffles, compartmentalized.” When given a bit of thought, his analogies, despite being generalizations, make perfect sense. I'd never heard of this before, but in googling this morning for an image of spaghetti and waffles, I found there's quite a bit of discussion on just this topic. Our resident droll humorist wasn't as original as we'd thought. This was my take on the topic:

Women’s minds are capable of running in many directions, “over, under, around, and through.” Unless they’re specifically focused on a situation at hand, a problem, or maybe a good book, they have many things to cover and be aware of in their day. There’s that “back of the mind” that lets them know when it’s time to pick up the kids, or the grandkids, put the wash into the dryer, or start dinner. They’re always checking their to-do lists, especially the mental lists.

Women are like the magazines they favor: Southern Living, Country Living, Martha Stewart Living – everyone’s living – Elle, O, Better Homes and Gardens. All are collections of miscellaneous, interesting topics. We’ll add in a few “single topic” publications like Gourmet or Prevention.

Men are like the magazines they favor: Popular Mechanics, Golf Digest, Car and Driver, Motor Trend, ESPN Magazine, Sports Illustrated. All are one-topic publications. We’ll allow GQ in here.

Men’s minds are generally compartmentalized. For the majority of men, they have boxes for things like sports and the guys, sex, home maintenance, the kids or grandkids, work. If they’re retired, that last compartment is called “what’s on for the day.”

There’s that old adage about “a man works from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done.” That saying came into general usage because it’s true, not universally, but generally.