Real Men Get Scratched

Wooooofff, as Rick Mayall would say in numerous guises. This is a Man's hand (note the capital "M"). It did Real Man's work today (note the capital letters again). It got Scratched. (If you haven't got it yet, and belong to the #EverydaySexism axis, the capital letters are to denote self-deprecation!)

Coming home from Kettlewell yesterday evening - see previous blip - one of our headlights failed. So it was off to Halfords this morning to buy a new bulb. I was interested to see that they now offer to fit such things as replacement batteries and windscreen wipers and bulbs for you. And I have to admit that I was tempted.

Until I remembered that I am a Man! (And I saw the fitting charge, which was nearly the same price as the bulb...) Yes, I am a Man and very capable of changing a headlight bulb by myself. Despite having to read and re-read the car manual, which seemed to have been translated from the original German via Mandarin. Despite having to check and re-check whether the required bulb was Halogen or Bi-Xenon. Despite the initial shock of learning from said manual that if said bulb (no matter whether Halogen or Bi-Xenon) was on one side of the car rather than the other, I would also have to drain, disconnect and remove the windscreen washer reservoir before I even got started!!!

No matter. I am a Man. I bought the bulb. I refused the assistant's offer of the fitting service with a wave of my Manly hand. I strode to the car and fitted the bulb (after ten minutes figuring out how to open the bonnet...). Luckily it wasn't the bulb on the washer reservoir side. But it was damn fiddly to fit. Hence the scratches.

Which brings me (finally) to the point of this blip. You don't see many scratches on men's hands any more. Seeing mine reminded me of my Grampa Walton, who was a gardener, and really did have Man's hands, scratches 'n' all. Even my Dad, who was office based for all his working life and no real handyman, had Man's hands.

Do It Yourself, not in some grand reality TV makeover way, but in small ways. Take a stand against complacency and meek acceptance. Just Do something. Even if your hands, your confidence, or your ego get scratched. They'll heal.