What He Really Thinks (WHRT)… About Shopping

I once asked my ex-girlfriend what was the one thing that she loved more than shoes, she replied ‘the feeling of shopping for shoes’. Granted this was during a rather tense conversation about her spending habits but it was the speed at which she answered and the fact that there seemed to be very little sarcasm in her voice that left me lost for words. Shopping, which for the purposes of this article we will describe as the ‘process of buying clothes, health and beauty products repeatedly’ is not something that men can fully grasp or appreciate. There are several reasons for this and WHRT about shopping can be defined by three age-old questions:

Why do you need anotherone?

The inspiration for today’s article came last month when a friend of mine called me up frustrated with her new man (they’ve been seeing each other for three months) and told me how she felt she was doing too much comprising and stressed:

‘…AC, he’s only got three pairs of footwear… and I bought one of them for him’.

I really wanted to laugh – three pairs of footwear is a small and manageable amount for many working men – trainers for the gym, a pair of shoes for work, a pair for formal occasions. Therefore, the fact that you have more footwear in your wardrobe than the a the local Footlocker, confuses him.

WHRT is: ‘I don’t understand why you need so many pairs of the shoes/black dresses/jeans when you already have perfectly good ones that you don’t wear hanging up in your closet’.

I use the word “hanging” loosely because many of my female friends have so many items of clothing either sitting in black bags, packed into musty suitcases and even in storage, ready to be ‘sorted out’ one day.

What have you been doing all that time?

The enjoyment that many women get from the process of actually shopping is also something men can’t understand. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that shops catering for female buyers have actively tried to make shopping a form of ‘therapy’ where you can browse for things in magazines, have a coffee and a chat,  as well getting down to the business of actually shopping. The male shopping “experience” isn’t anywhere near as advanced, probably because it doesn’t need to be. Men often boast about the speed at which they were able to buy whatever it is they wanted and get back home in time to do whatever else they had scheduled.

The shopping process for most men is scheduled:

WHRT is: ‘I need a shirt so I’m going to the usual three places I buy shirts from and if I like one/the price is right, it’s mine and I’m done for the day’.

The fact men don’t have the range of products to choose from also adds to the time limit that most guys will put on shopping for things like clothes. Of course there are occasions when men love to shop as much as women and it’s not just when they’re pretending so that they can get closer to the women they fancy. These times are usually when there are ‘moving around’ for some reason. For example, if they are moving house and want new household items, or going on holiday and need some appropriate clothing. Generally WHRT about shopping is that the entire process is tiring and unnecessary especially now you can just get it on the interweb!