Monday, May 19, 2008

The dreaded answering machine




This is one of the most painfully hilarious scenes ever put on film. A guy calls a woman he's met earlier that evening (thus breaking the much-discussed standard "two day rule," so he's already living dangerously)...and overthinking sets in.

This clip helps answer a question women so often ask ("why don't men call?") and one that most of my friends and family are too polite (or afraid) to ask me ("why is a great catch like you still single?")*.

*(Except, in my case, for the "six-year relationship" part).

4 comments:

Suzy said...

Well that 2 day rule is from the man's side of the coin. In reality, women never understand why, if things went well, the guy doesn't call the next day. So take my advice, if it went well, call the next day.

Mark Kelly Hall said...

I actually don't take rules like that seriously...the guys in the movie treat it like state law, which is also part of the comedy.

I'm as skeptical of dating rules as I am of all those "100% guaranteed steps to make $10,000 a week!" come-ons. And I'm creeped out by the guys who teach pickup techniques (actually using PowerPoint charts)...though there I believe there's a grain of psychological truth buried within the b.s. (as there is some truth behind every lie).

Sometimes guys just need concrete guidelines to give us the illusion of control in an area where we are far from experts. Otherwise, how do we know when we've won? (HA!). I mean guys in general, of course.

In the excellent film "Hitch"; the lesson is "be yourself"...but as the film also admits, a guy sometimes needs help to present himself and to know when/how much to reveal so he doesn't turn a woman off. As for calling right away--where's the dramatic tension in that? And who needs drama more than women? Hmmm?

Amanda Bradley said...

he's so money, baby!

Anonymous said...

It's blogs like this that make me thankful to have been out of the dating pool for 24 years...if, heaven forbid, the chance ever presents itself for me to jump back in, I'll have to have "swimmy's" for sure..or at least a buff, Latin lifeguard...YIKES! Yeah for monogamy, or monotony, either one works for me...