Kids in my room
I have the sort of room that I dreamed about having when I was a kid. You know, a spiral staircase, TV built into the book case, sousaphone on the wall, etc. So when kids come here, I can't begrudge them hanging out in here even if I'm somewhere else in the house.
On Canada Day, I took a break from scrambling eggs to go to the bathroom. I found Liam, Jane and Heather (11, 8 and 11) up here playing with my puppets. Were they curious about why a grown man has a collection of puppets? No. Did they want to know why I have three brass instruments in plain view and others in their cases? No. Did they ask about the four Viking helmets on the wall? Okay, yes, they did. But what they really wanted to talk about, what really had them worked up and they just could not understand was...
"Why do you have lady deodorant?"
"It was cheaper," I said.
"But it's for women," they said, "and you're a man."
"But it's unscented, so it's the same thing and it was a dollar cheaper."
Alas, I was informed by Liam, and the girls concurred, that even for a dollar less, I should not be using the lady deodorant.
At least I know I wasn't being ridiculously paranoid when I hid the prescription drugs before they came over.
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7 comments:
Sorry Dave, I have to go with the kids on this one - you should be using Man Speed Stick. It's an optics thing.
Interesting though that the Lady Speed Stick is cheaper. Usually products for women are more expensive than the equivalent products for men.
Oh, I'm going to go with the kids on this.
:)
nah, i'm going to disagree with the wisdom of children for once. buy whatever you like. don't get bogged down in those gender stereotypes. i use men's gel for shaving my legs because it works better (um..this sounds like i have mannish hair on my legs) oh dear.
I waffle. I won't share mountain mist man deodorant but unscented, it's just a label for a marketing niche. Going with the wallet makes cents.
Zoom and Fingers, you have demonstrated that you just never know who is going to be a gender traditionalist.
I plan to continue to use the lowest priced deodorant without shame.
My whole life I've been inspired by gender-role pioneers like that woman in the old Irish Spring commercial - Manly, yes, but I like it too!
You really should be aware of the ppu (not pee-yew but price per unit). Lady Speed Stick gives you 45g of product and the Man Size is usually 55g. Something to think about!
Grace, a frugal old lady
Maybe you could continue using the Lady Speed Stick but you could artistically alter the label for the benefit of small children and gender traditionalists.
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