I was in the video store last night, browsing. (Avoiding the clearly insane man who was wandering around the “adult” section in the back, muttering obscene things to himself.) There were two guys, two nice-looking preppyish guys (SO Hoboken), standing by the “New Releases”, trying to pick something out. I wasn’t paying much attention to them.
Suddenly two girls entered the store. “Hey…” “Did you pick something out yet?” Clearly, they were girlfriends of the two guys. And they were ALSO such Hoboken girls. Once you live here, you know the type.
The two girls looked at whatever videos the guys had in their hands that they were considering, and immediately mocked them.
“What??”
“What movie are you looking at?” She glances at it and states: “No. No. I am NOT watching that.”
Laughing, as though he couldn’t possibly be serious, and was only holding the video as a joke.
The two girls came in, immediately cut these guys off, made them into little kids, mocked their choices, emasculated them. The whole vibe changed. The girls had been sent to park the car, and the guys had been sent to pick out the movie … but clearly the girls did not trust the guys to do the right thing and had to come back and check.
I know I’m being hostile, but I don’t care. I can’t stand women like that.
So then the two girls took over the job they had given the guys, cause clearly the guys were such dolts that they couldn’t handle the task … (If they’re such dolts, then WHY ARE YOU WITH THEM??). And the girls made three suggestions for movie rentals.
You hear conversations in video stores all the time between couples: “No … I don’t want to watch Safe Passage with Susan Sarandon. I want to watch Blade II.” Couples trying to come to an agreement. It’s a cliche (chick flicks vs. action films), but there is truth to it.
The first movie suggested by one of the girls was The Majestic.
I (the innocent bystander) could feel the almost-violent “NO I DON’T WANT TO SEE THAT MOVIE” vibration coming from off the guys, but neither of them said a word. No response. The two girls didn’t even care that they didn’t get a response, and bulldozed on.
It was then that I heard one of the guys murmur to the other: “I heard that The Majestic sucked.”
I wanted to cheer. Yes! Keep your own opinions! Don’t let her bully you!
The next suggestion was also a chick-flick, only I can’t remember what it was. Perhaps it would come back to me under hypnosis.
The guys might as well have not been there.
And then the third movie suggested was: “How about The Shipping News?”
These bumbling guys in wide-wale corduroys and big NorthFace jackets, trying to be nice and polite to their nice-smelling black-clad vaguely bitchy girlfriends, who keep suggesting chick flicks for their Saturday evening together, an evening where clearly EVERYBODY is supposed to enjoy themselves. Not just the girls.
Here’s one other thing I noticed.
The girls entered the store, peered at the video tapes in their boyfriends’ hands, and immediately and openly mocked the choices being considered.
The boys never once said, “No way am I watching The Shipping News on a Saturday night. Are you INSANE?”
They had better manners than that. They had opinions about every soppy chick flick suggested, but they held back the bile. Unlike the girls.
The women sort of huffed out of the store, after emasculating their boyfriends, negating all of their choices, and the two guys were left by themselves. One of them said, “Let’s watch this.” (And it was a title which was “The R—-“, but I didn’t hear the rest of it. It might have been The Rookie. If so, good choice!)
I know I’m so judgmental. But I don’t care. That’s what I SAW in those moments. And maybe it’s not that big a deal to them. Maybe the girls like treating their boyfriends like they’re irresponsible little children who can’t handle the simplest tasks, and maybe the guys like to be treated like that.
