A friend shared with me an observation that I thought was provocative enough to get you all riled up. He says that when men tell a story about how their day went, it’s usually focused on something good that happened. When women tell a story about their day, it’s usually focused on something negative. BOCTAOE
As a cartoonist, I’m always interested in gross generalities. Does this one ring true to you?
I don’t think there’s any question about this… in general. It’s particularly telling that more than a few of the women in his comments who claim that they aren’t complainers – which is a largely meaningless assertion in that the opinion of one’s mate is rather more significant – often describe themselves as being atypical.
Now, everyone complains, the important question is if you do so more than one’s circumstances might reasonably dictate. I have no problem listening to an individual with a genuine problem talk about it, but overhearing wealthy, indolent women bitching about their lives at the coffee shop makes me want to walk over and snap their chicken-like necks.
But it defies belief to insist, with no evidence, that men and women complain exactly the same amount. I think Scott’s friend is right, in general, because men don’t seem to play the Martyr Game that so many women seem to enjoy so much. Even so, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t millions of men moaning about their terrible lives every day, bringing everyone around them down.
I imagine that I probably strike readers here as a complainer since I am massively critical of everything from the NFL officiating to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and yet if I was truly a negative person, I wouldn’t do most of the things I spend my time doing. Of course, I can bitch about undesired spikes or drops in various markets like you wouldn’t believe. But really, Spacebunny’s opinion on this is more relevant than mine.