Robin's Reports

TREATED LIKE A WOMAN!!

by Robin

There are days I like to be pampered. I like the car door being opened for me. I like being dropped off at the door of a restaurant when it rains. I like it when my hubby gets my pillow & blankie late at night. (Yes, I have a favorite blankie that I crocheted decades ago. "Warmest blanket ever!")

BUT, what I don't like is to be treated like an ignoramous because I'm a woman. I'm sure most of us women feel that way. Before I tell this story, in this man's defense, I'm sure he was just trying to simplify the conversation & he stereotyped me with the other women at church. He's really a nice guy and I like his family too. Too bad he didn't realize that I'm not like other church women......... and I blog! I'll call him "BillyBob" to protect his privacy.

As parents of kids in a church performance, we're having a little downtime. Anytime anybody mentions fishing at this church, I hear "BillyBob" this and "BillyBob" that. He's the church fisherman. Every church has one, if not two. So, I decide to strike up a conversation with him and ask him what type of boat he has. THAT should have been his first clue that I wasn't a typical woman. I didn't say, "So you fish?" or "What fish do you like to catch?". I went straight to the boat because, afterall, I can sense testosterone by hull and engine power. It's the equivalent of one guy going up to another guy and asking what type of engine do you have.

"What type of boat do you have?" I asked. To which, he took a slight pause, quickly evaluated the situation (i.e. estrogen), and then gave me the insulting answer, "It's a big offshore boat" with each word slightly disconnected from the last. He wanted to tell me, but he figured I couldn't handle the info.

Slightly annoyed with that answer, I treated him like a child that's been lying to his momma. I asked him again "I know boats. What type of boat do you have?" This time, I put a bit more emphasis on my manly tone and he certainly responded much better the next time.

"I have a 24 ft Mako." he replied. Ahhhh...... now we're getting somewhere. Deep in the back of my brain, I heard Tim Allen's grunts. Not only did I know about this boat, I know it intimately from tearing ours apart all last year.

I then told him how we have a 25 ft Mako, 1987 model, and his eyes brightened up and brain became engaged. You see, he is also a Classic Mako owner of a 238 model (ours is 248). We have practically the SAME BOAT! When our sons came up, I shared the news with them and my son pops back in a most embarassing way, "Our boat is bigger than your boat. Our boat is bigger than your boat." Ack! In my most humble voice, I told him to stop & reminded him it's the same boat, minus a foot. In the back of my head I was thinking, "It's always about size for men. It doesn't matter what the topic is or how young the man is." Good grief!!

From there, the conversation moved quicker from engine RPMs to trolling to our dislike for the river. Come to find out, they had been over the same path we took on Friday with their Mako. I would just love to have another person to talk fish with at church. Tucked away in my Bible is my latest printout of the 60lb cobia we caught in June. (Some people brag about their grandchildren, I brag about fish.) You can never have enough fishing friends to exchange conversation about the latest catches, fishing holes and skunking woes. Jack has fishing buddies at work. Why shouldn't I have a couple at church?

By the way, I also have some wonderful vet techs who love offshore fishing. We've bumped into each other at the docks in April and talked toy dogs. Last week, I took our Sam in for a well-check, and the ladies and I talked thermocline & trolling for mahi.

I guess the moral to the story is that when you live in a coastal town where nearly every street has an offshore boat sitting in the yard/driveway, don't assume that women don't understand OFFSHORE FISHING!! Who do you think fishes with these men when they can't get a buddy? It's us wives. Yeah, that's right. And we can back a trailer in, too.

Oh,....... and...... we won't be fishing this weekend because Jack and I will be tearing apart our car to do some major repairs. I also happen to know a little bit about cars too.

On another note, I'm so thankful to see gas prices coming down so that fishing with become more affordable again. Our fishing forum has been so quiet over the summer. I think a lot of boats are sitting in the driveways or marina docks.