Why do women buy things they don’t need?
Dear Dale:
Every time we go somewhere, to a festival or a flea market, my girlfriend insists on buying some pointless piece of junk that takes up space, needs cleaning and makes our small apartment look even smaller. Why is that?
Signed,
Trapped by things
Dear TBT:
It’s like this: men are hunters and women are gatherers. But berries are light and deer are heavy. For a woman to scoop up another handful of berries and put them in her basket is no big deal. To kill a second deer, however, doubles the weight you have to carry back. And unlike women, who collect close to home, men have to go far to find game.
As a result, men are minimalists who live largely without possessions. A toothbrush and an extra T-shirt is usually enough. Women, on the other hand, are maximalists who always want more. Add to that advertising, mass production and a consumer society and it’s no wonder they’re out of control. It’s a disease — like alcoholism, only not as much fun.
So what to do? Reason is useless. It usually is but especially so in this case. You can’t fight instinct. Your best bet is to steer her towards something cheap and offer to buy it. You have no idea the effect this will have. Few things make women happier than an unexpected present. Combine that with a piece of cake at a nice cafe and she’ll be smiling for hours.
As for the clutter… you’ll just have to live with it. Women see empty spaces as worthless and inevitably fill them with knickknacks. But, odds are, after a few weeks, she’ll have forgotten about it. At which point you can throw it out. I recommend a regular cleanup, once a month, where you go through your place and select a few items for removal. But don’t overdo it. The trick is to do it bit by bit so she thinks she misplaced them. If you’re lucky enough to have a slob for a girlfriend, she probably won’t even notice. Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Dale
Hi. If you’ve made it this far, you probably liked the story. So why not check out some others at my Medium page? https://medium.com/dear-dale
