Do you believe there's such a thing as a soulmate?

Sunday, March 14, 2010

"I've Got Standards. I Can Wait." So Can We.

When a cheetah hunts gazelle, the chase is like a 100 meter sprint-- fast and brief. Sometimes the cheetah wins and sometimes it loses. The wolf, on the other hand, will hunt caribou for miles and days, trotting behind the herd and waiting for them to fatigue.

Why the nature lesson, you ask?

I hear a lot of women talk about their lists and standards and expectations, and how they’re more than willing to sit out until conditions are to their liking. The problem with this is that conditions, over time, don’t really change. If they do, it’s for the worse. Time is the enemy for women-- not so much for men.

“Time is on my side… yes, it is…” goes the song by the Rolling Stones, and men hum this to themselves as they negotiate the female landscape. We’re aware that fatigue eventually sets in, that you tire of dating, that you watch more of your friends getting married and starting families, that you start acquiring wrinkles and extra pounds, that you become “that old bitch” at the club and that your stock declines as ours rises (there are no female Tony Bennetts).

Women who consider themselves “prime cut” hold out too long, reassuring themselves that they are too good to settle until they discover one day that their stock has plummeted, the choice men have been snatched up, and those who remain stand ready to exploit (and punish) them.

Men can be both cheetah and wolf, swiftly running down those they can catch now and patiently awaiting the deceleration of those who attempt to outrun time and reality.

1 comment:

  1. Loving this... You know I always like your perception of the female male interaction its always on point.

    ReplyDelete