The papers at the moment are busily reviewing Shane Watson's indispensible How to Meet a Man After Forty, in the course of discussing which book, William Leith (yesterday) wrote pitch-perfect Guardian:
The reason that the man shortage has become the perceived reality is that women in their late 30s write books and newspaper columns, whereas men in their early 20s tend not to. They just sit around talking to their mates about football and cars.
It's true. Norfolk is, as I have often noticed, full of of women in their late thirties writing books and newspaper columns. Somerfields is packed with them.
And down the road, at the Cross Keys*, men with 'mates' are talking about nothing but football and cars.
The idyllic bliss of it! Two delightful stereotypes touched in with the lightest of brushes!
Ah yes, but what tops it all however, what makes it sing, what makes it authentic Spirit-of-Guardian, is that the article knows itself to be rubbish but still likes to hear itself say such things because only then does it know it is among friends.
UPDATE NOTE: See post above.
10 comments:
How to meet a man after forty.
Forty what?
Winks?
Days and Nights?
I think we should be told.
Perhaps he was trying to re-write Seinfeld, creatively misreading the origical:
"[Scene: Comedy club.]
JERRY: I swear, I have absolutely no idea what women are thinking. I don't get it, OK? I, I, I admit, I, I'm not getting the signals. I am not getting it! Women, they're so subtle, their little...everything they do is subtle...men are not subtle, we are obvious. Women know what men want, men know what men want, what do we want? We want women, that's it!...It's the only thing we know for sure, it really is: we want women. How do we get them? Oh, we don't know 'bout that, we don't know. The next step after that we have no idea. This is why you see men honking car-horns, yelling from construction sites. These are the best ideas we've had so far...The car-horn-honk, is that a beauty? Have you seen men doing this? What is this? The man is in the car, the woman walks by the front of the car, he honks: [imitates horn]
e-eeehh, eehhh, eehhh, this man is out of ideas. How does it...? [imitates horn again] e-e-e-eeeehhhh, "I don't think she likes me"...The amazing thing is, that we still get women, don't we. Men, I mean, men are with women. You see men with women. How are men getting women, many people wonder. Let me tell you a little bit about our organization. "Where ever women are?", we have a man working on the situation right now. Now, he may not be our best man, OK, we have a lot of areas to cover, but someone from our staff is on the scene...That's why, I think, men get frustrated, when we see women reading articles, like: "Where to meet men?". We're here, we are everywhere. We're honking our horns to serve you better."
original
Of course what the Leith article is in reality all about is the changing face of sex-onomics. As 'the city'-based UK economy slides down the pan the dolly birds are going to find it hard to find their dream blokes, those older, well-heeled, father figures, old rocker-types a la Rod Stewart, dangling their BMW keys from their moneybelts at the Cross Keys bar, talking to George not about footy but about juggling the plastic. It's a worrying scenario.
"Somerfields is packed with them."
Maybe that sentence says more about you than it does them, George. I have a vision of you lurking behind rows of Heinz beans with an empty shopping trolley listening to the chit-chat. :)
Ah, the greying wolf of Somerfields. I'm just standing on the corner, leaning on the lamp post, watching all the girls go by. Brother, you don't know a finer occupation. matter of fact..
Matter of fact I'll do a quick post on Wymondham demographics.
The Seinfeld is great, Noga. Thank you.
William Leith has been writing columns for years that are a) about absolutely nothing, b) complete bollocks, which always makes me think: how, how do people get jobs doing that? I wish I knew because I reckon I could talk as much bollocks as that without breaking a sweat.
Anonymous - the answer is forty days and nights in the desert, prey to a range of delusional temptations, shortly before being crucified.
Leith's a good writer, but has always been crippled by self-pity. (And by drink, drugs and overeating too, of course).He even does that classic left-wing blogger thing in which there is unacceptable privilege in the world! starting one level above one's own head of course. And the blogger "public schoolboy" thing, in which it's not the public schoolboys I know, that I'm friends with, of course, but those other ones, over there..the elites..
I think he'd make an excellent blogger.
...in which there is unacceptable privilege in the world! starting one level above one's own head of course....
Absolutely peachy!
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