Every woman wants to believe that she can and WILL take care of herself when the need arises. It is a notion of great value that my mother taught my sister and me and I have tried to impart the same wisdom to my nieces and younger female friends when applicable.
But let me be honest here. There is a part of me (and not a microscopic part either) that is MORE than happy to let a man do certain things for me.
Take cars for example. I don’t know what’s going on there. AT ALL. About the ONLY things I know how to do are pop open the trunk for groceries, prop up the hood so that someone else can poke around beneath it to figure out what’s wrong with it… and fill my own washer fluid. And the only reason I know how to take care of the washer fluid is because I go through about a gallon a week tailgating other drivers like I do.
Yesterday I experienced one of those “I-really-need-a-man-to-do-this-for-me-moments” when I had to put air in a couple of my tires that were low. It was my lunch hour… I was wearing heels… It was 18 degrees outside… In blizzard conditions… Snowing like a sonofabitch. Oh and I’d somehow managed to leave my Carhartts and ski mask at home.
Standing ankle-deep in frozen, muddy, gas station slush, struggling in gale-force winds to fill up my tires I must have looked every bit of a pathetic wretch because out of nowhere a man shows up (appropriately dressed for the harsh weather of course) and gently but firmly takes the hose from me as he says: “Honey, let me do that for you. You don’t need to be doing this. Look at the way you’re dressed.”
And you wanna know what I said?
“OK! Thank you soooo much sir!”
As I crawled back inside the shelter and embrace of my warm car and my cursing of Mother Nature ceased — I smiled to myself thinking just how nice it will be to permanently have a man around in the very near future. One who doesn’t mind braving the elements to fix a flat, change the oil and fill the washer fluid.
Woman In Thrisis 
I’ve had similar thoughts, except I don’t care about the gender of who takes care of it for me. Just as long as I don’t have to.
What she said.
I got a chuckle reading this:) I am guilty of using my two assets to my advantage and have had repair prices go down in price – ha! My other half usually leaves me to handle price negotations now.
You are marrying Lee for more than just his automotive skills, right? (just kidding)
Yeah, I think I’m way to independent to let a guy do this sort of stuff for me. I most likely would of declined the offer of assistance because I’m way to stubborn to take up an offer of help.
I’m not sure I’d have acted any differently. 🙂 I’m all for female strength and independence, but I’m also a big fan of respect — if that respect happens to take the form of a man holding a door open for me or a guy offering to fill my tires with air, so be it.
My daughter would have declined. Somehow I managed to raise her to be as independant as we all want them to be. I am not, thats the funny thing. She fiddles under the hood and loves it. She always watched her dad and asked a lot of questions. She wrestled with him and now is strong and believes she can defend herself. I hope she is right but never has to find out. I wish I was more like her.
Not too long ago my husband I watched a Doris Day movie and I could not believe the things they said in it! And then to hear the tapes of Jackie Kennedy speaking about her role as a wife to John, well that was just mindblowing.
I like to form my own opinions and speak my mind but I do want someone else to change tires, lightbulbs, yes I said lightbulbs, and cut the grass.