Octopo:
chebby:That's maybe because it typically reminds them of what their dads drive and that is a whole juggernaut of Freud we had better not get into! (Competence, confidence. assuredness, maturity, financial security etc. All the things a 'boy' their own age lacks basically.)
Chebby, you seem to have a better understanding of the other sex more than many. Care to share more wisdom?
Goodness no. What I mean is.. no, I don't think I have any more wisdom than any other bloke of 40 something and it would be presumptious to assume I have anything useful to say on the subject of living in the world with women (wives, GFs, daughters, colleagues etc.)
Deep pockets, a sense of humour, the capacity to be endlessly suprised and just a tiny bit of 'last century' benign chauvanism mixed with chivalry when appropriate. OK to to be a slob sometimes (it's expected anyway) so long as you can occasionally scrub up well and do a bit of the 'dashing romantic' in public, uninhibited, as if you really mean it (and without checking the bill). Defer to the females around you but (again) just occasionally be decisive on a few of the big things to demonstrate you are not either a complete walkover or the 'family pet'.
Oh yes, in 27 years of being together we have never had a shared bank account. Probably the biggest factor in staying together (apart from the fact that I love her to bits.)
A few of you 'gentlemen of middle years' may detect that 'Superpig' by the late, great William Rushton was an early (and seminal) influence on me when it was first published. (I was 16 and confused as hell about women of course.) For better or worse, bits of William Rushton's wise and hilarious words have come to my rescue a few times in the past. Be warned though, it is not the 'bible' on such matters and it is dated. (Like me!) But for a 16 year old in the 1970s it sure came in handy and proved itself more than just an entertaining read on quite a few occasions.