Men’s Rules for a Relationship

Andy sent me the following email forward on March 3, 2004. Some of it may be inappropriate for younger readers. I think the list works better if you assume that the guy and girl are married. The list is meant as a joke and I think it is pretty funny.

  1. The floor is considered an acceptable clothing storage location.
  2. Never ask me to purchase feminine products. Assume that I will come home with the wrong thing.
  3. When watching TV hugging is always fine because I can still see the screen. Kissing should only be done during timeouts and commercials. Questions should also be limited to this period as you stand a much better chance of getting an immediate response.
  4. When we are watching your show and I change the channels during a commercial, do not hassle me that the commercials have probably finished, and to change the channel back. I always know when the timing is right. Also, when we are channel surfing do not ask me to go back, there was a good reason why I skipped it.
  5. If you need help with the laundry, I am more than willing to carry it from the bedroom to the washer. In my mind this is half the chore and I am now free to return to the couch.
  6. If I mention that a male friend of mine is allowed to do something it is not necessary for you to call his wife/girlfriend to discuss it.
  7. If you don’t like the way I am driving close your eyes. And I would appreciate it if you would refrain from making that reverse inhaling alarmed noise. I haven’t hit anything yet and if I do it will be your fault.
  8. I go clothes shopping to buy, never to look.
  9. Just tell me what you want me to wear before I get dressed. And remember that this takes me less than ten minutes no matter what the occasion is. After all I am getting dressed, not getting ready.
  10. Don’t ask me if I prefer one outfit over another or if a certain accessory should be worn or not. I consider this a no win situation and would rather just wait for you to get dressed while watching TV.
  11. If you want me to put the seat down when I am finished then you should leave the seat up when you are finished. It’s only fair. And stop giving me a hard time about missing the bowl. What do you expect from an organ that has a brain of its own.
  12. I will cook anything as long as it is on the BBQ.
  13. Yelling to me across the house sounds exactly like stadium crowd background noise to me. I am not ignoring you.
  14. When i am on the phone to my pals, I usually talk about important stuff, and I’m finished talking quickly. I don’t phone someone and talk for hours about stuff I could’ve said when I saw them in person earlier.
  15. “Housework” is not a word I like, and actually doing any of it, I like even less. So this is a non starter, don’t even think of suggesting this to me.
  16. If you are cooking a special dinner for me, be sure to include something from each of the four major male food groups: Meat, Fried, Beer, and Red.
  17. Don’t make me hold your purse in the mall.
  18. The man is ALWAYS in charge of poking the campfire with a stick and/or tending the grill.
  19. 19. Money does not equate love. Not even in Nevada.
  20. Any attempt by a man to prepare food, no matter how feeble (ie: Microwaving a burrito, fixing Spaghetti, etc) should be met with roughly the same degree of praise a parent might shower upon their infant when it walks for the first time.
  21. Those male models with perfect bodies are all gay. Accept it.
  22. I heard you the first time.
  23. If you truly want honesty, don’t ask questions you don’t really want the answer to.
  24. Any sort of injury involving the testicles is not funny.
  25. If I have to sit through “Legends of the Fall”, you have to sit through “Animal House”.
  26. “Fine.” is not an acceptable way to end an argument.
  27. Do not question my innate navigational abilities by suggesting I stop for directions.
  28. I was NOT looking at that other girl.
  29. I am the funniest, strongest, best-looking, most successful man you have ever met.
  30. Your (select appropriate item:) butt/boobs/hair/makeup/legs look fine. As a matter of fact, it/they look damn good. Stop asking.
  31. If you want a satisfying sex life, you will NEVER fake an orgasm.
  32. It is not necessary to discuss the heaviness of your menstrual flow with me.
  33. Remember: that Nair bottle looks an awful lot like shampoo if left in the shower.
  34. Yes, Sharon Stone/Pamela Anderson/Cindy Crawford are prettier than you. Just like Brad Pitt/Antonio Banderas/Keanu Reeves are better looking than me. But since neither one of us are going to be dating any of these people, love the one you’re with.
  35. Of course size matters, and boy do I have the grandaddy of them all.
  36. Don’t hog the covers.
  37. Watching football is a major turn-on for you. But please wait until the halftime show to act upon that.
  38. I do not just want to be friends.

Posted: Friday, July 23, 2004