The NYT Is Spying On Me, Plus The Thing A Man Doesn't Want To Be Called

-
An article from this week about how younger people hate email. I wrote about it weeks ago! Get with the program, NYT. You are so 2000.

Link to the article. 

My goal to not email didn't go so well. I think I lasted about 6 hours. Oh well.

______________

I was reminded this week of a conversation T. and I had when I was in China. I told him that something good had happened (I can't remember now what it was) because he was such a decent guy. His response?

T.: "Ugggghh, decent? That's a bad word to a guy. It's like me saying, "You have a great personality."
Me: "I DO have a great personality!"
T.: "Ok, yes you do, but still no guy wants to be called decent! It means they're not exciting or sexy or something."
Me: "Okay. I won't say it again."
T.: "Well, I probably am decent. I just have to live with it. Damn it!"

Before this I had no idea 'decent' was such a loaded word. So now instead of decent, I say 'exciting and sexy.' Men! Is this a common attitude toward the word 'decent'? I always thought of it as a compliment.

Comments

Busy Bee Suz said…
I think decent is awesome. Right???
The NYT owes you some credit darn it.
Have a wonderful Christmas...I hope you have a great time.
Stay warm.
xoxox
Suz
Friday, December 24, 2010
mjfoster77 said…
You called him "decent?!" Why didn't you just slap him in the face?!? I guess context is everything, but basically your saying "you're nice, but boring." i.e. an 'adequate' human being...
Friday, December 24, 2010
Ileana said…
That's the same reaction I get when I call a guy sweet. Apparently, they're either a sexy badass or a sweet dud. I don't get it.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
yrautca said…
Ya. In my experience words like decent, nice, cute, sweet, etc definitely are pushing 'just friends' territory for both girls and guys. I dont think women call a guy whose bones she wants to jump, decent.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Tracey Axnick said…
Men are really almost as insecure (as a group) as we women... it took me years to realize that, but it's true.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick Notes

-
I cut my hair today, it now looks like Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. It took two hours, it was the most meticulous haircut I have ever received. He was amazing. I wish I could take him with me to Chongqing. Tomorrow I move into a hotel with the other volunteers in downtown Chengdu. We have a few days of meetings and then I move to Chongqing on Wednesday. It's about 4 hours away by train. Our new school helps us move, I am crossing my fingers they bring a car or some strong men to help! My suitcases are hella heavy. We had a banquet last night for our host families. The power went out so we ate in the dark, and then we decided to move to a restaurant next door where dinner started all over again. It was a very China evening. I will post pics asap.
Read more

This One Time I Thought I Was Really Hot (But It Was Just The HVAC Talking)

-
Back in San Antonio, my friend Stacey had asked me to pick her up from the airport. It was full summer, and for those of you who haven't been in San Antonio in the summertime, you know that expression 'hot as an oven'? Well, I like to say San Antonio summers are 'hot as downwind from an exhaust pipe.' (Which means when you actually are downwind from an exhaust pipe, things get really unpleasant.) It's quite common for there to be a temperature difference of 35-40 degrees between indoor and outdoor air during a San Antonio summer. True story: I had a small heater at my work desk and turned it on in the summer, not winter, because the air conditioning was on so high in our building I froze to death at my desk. So anyway, I go straight from the gym to the airport to pick up Stacey. It's 10 pm but still around 100 degrees outside. Inside, it's a balmy 60 or so. Gotta give those tourists a false sense of comfort! I'm pacing a bit in the baggage area wa...
Read more

Really?!?? AKA, Cultural Mishaps in China, They Will Happen

-
After judging a speech competition all morning at a school that is not my own, I was asked to hand out the second place prizes. They also asked some other teachers, but I missed the details because they only gave them in Chinese and I didn’t understand everything. I was only supposed to hand out 4 of 12 prizes. But the prize girl kept handing me certificates, so I kept handing them out, while the audience laughed at me. I didn’t know what was going on, so I just kept going until someone stopped me. Later, I was interviewed for the school news, on video, and the girl interviewing me asked me this question: Random Girl: “When you made the mistake and everyone was laughing at you, what did you feel inside?” Really, random girl? Really? On camera you ask me this? Really? Two years ago, this would have devastated me. Now, I just have to laugh and say, “Oh well! Such is life in China.” Cultural mistakes will be made. It happens. For the record, I told her I felt that it is maybe go...
Read more