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The St. Bernard Effect: Are Men Too Thick to Hear Women’s Warnings?
“This came out of nowhere.” vs “I told him a million times.”
When women divorce their husbands, the husbands frequently express surprise. They didn’t see this coming. Where did this storm come from?
Here’s a metaphor that I think explains part of the issue, which I call The St. Bernard Effect because these dogs* are big and sweet but stubborn and dense. (I originally heard it secondhand, so forgive me if I’m not getting it exactly right as I extrapolate it for effect.)
Domestic Bliss or Blindness and Derision?
The family is playing in the yard, and the sky starts looking cloudy. The wife says to her husband, “we should start getting ready to gather up our stuff and go in.”
“No, it’s fine, it’s supposed to be clear today,” he says.
“Okay,” she says, and continue playing with their kids on the grass, climbing and running.
It gets darker, and she says, “Oh, look, those are definitely storm clouds over there.”
