July 15, 2002
DOWN HOME:
Shopping divides women from men
___The other day, I went shopping with Joanna and about had a heat stroke.
___That's because I finished my shopping and hung around outside until the Light of My Life finished hers. We were at one of these new shopping districts that's made to look like the downtown of an old-time village. It's cute, quaint and oh-so-nostalgic. But if I were the mayor, I'd put a dome over the top and air condition the whole place. I mean, this is Texas, and this is summer.
___So, when I finished looking for a new shirt (no luck), I hung around outside. In the sun. With only a tree that looks like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree for shade.
___I guess I could've gone into the store where Jo was shopping, but I would've been the only male in the place, and I had on short pants, and so I just didn't feel secure enough to hang out with a bunch of women shoppers. So, maybe that doesn't make sense now, but I was already hot and working on my heat stroke, and it seemed reasonable enough at the time.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___Just before I had my heat stroke, I thought about the difference in men and women.
___The difference is more profound between men and girls, because then you have both a gender gap and an age gap.
___Our girls, Lindsay and Molly, love to shop in cosmetics stores, and they don't mind hanging out in stores that sell lots of cute tops.
___I enjoy hardware stores and sporting goods stores. Even if I'm not planning to build a deck or climb Mount Ranier, all that "stuff" just looks cool. Girls think this is torture. If Lindsay and/or Molly ever really messes up and needs to learn a lesson, I'm going to make the offending girl spend 30 minutes every afternoon in the Home Depot. This extreme punishment would guide her back to the straight and narrow.
___But anyway, I'm melting away, and I'm thinking about the difference between women and men, and (of course, this is an over-simplification) it has everything to do with shopping.
___Men are buyers. They decide what they want and go to the store and look for it. If it's not there--like my shirt, which apparently doesn't exist--they go home.
___Women, on the other hand, are shoppers. They go to the store to explore the possibilities. They may need a new mixer, but if the price is right and the color is pretty, they might buy a new couch instead.
___Women also will buy something they may decide they don't want and will bring back to the store. Men won't buy things they might like if they're not sure they really, really like it.
___The Bible says God made man and woman in God's image. Woman reflects the creative, consider-the-possibilities side of God. Man, however, reflects the part of God who was glad when six days of creation were over and the Game of the Week came on TV. After all that creativity, even God needed a rest.
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
