I was going to visit some new friends and needed directions. I phoned and got these directions from her: “Go up that street with all the stores on it just like you're going to the mall -you'll see a Kmart on your left - go past that. Then you'll come to Kimberly Rd. - you can turn right or left there but don't - go straight. Look for a Burger King on the right - that's where you turn.” At this point I heard her husband in the background saying “Let me tell him how to get here.” He got on the phone and said: “Go north on Brady, East on 53rd to Jersey Ridge - then right on Jersey Ridge” and he gave me the address. You could feel his pride at using so few words.
Why is male conversation so condensed and female conversation so filled with details. I've got a COUPLE THOUGHTS that topic.
Men tend to do one thing at a time. They move toward a goal. They focus on the goal and shut out unnecessary data - considering it to be a distraction. They act, think and talk that way….to the point, to the goal; with no side trips or extra words. That's also why we walk by things without picking them up - they're not our goal so we ignore them.
Women are often just the opposite - they love data. They absorb it and find all of it useful. Every job they encounter calls out to them- every thought needs to be dealt with. Women go through life connected to everything and everybody - which often gives them the feeling of being “overburdened”. Women rarely walk by things without picking them up - which sometimes causes them to remember another job that needs to be done and so on. Not getting to the cleaners today because 15 other things came across her path does not represent failure to a woman - like it would to a man. She knows the cleaning will be there tomorrow - and a million more jobs as well.
This is good - because men have the vision and focus to get us to a goal…and women have the attention to detail to recall what we encountered on the way so that we can get back. It's like, men know they have an anniversary every year - and women know the date! What a complimentary duo we are - with each supplying what the other lacks! Aren't we lucky to have each other!