Leave Silver Hitched

One of the differences between men and women is in how they listen in conversations. that, at least, is an assertion I read in some magazine article devoted to this endless topic. They had a theory about the way conversations work. The writer asserted that when men converse, if one of them raises a problem, men treat this as a call to action - the problem must be solved! And she asserted that when women raise a problem in conversation, they raise it in order to be listened to.

I don't know that I accept such a generalization point blank, because if my wife mentions the garbage, I am pretty sure that is a problem she wants solved, right to the curb. :-) But I think there is a kernel of truth to it, for as I read the article, I looked at how I reacted to some of conversations I had with my wife. She's kind of an angel of mercy, rescuing her friends from their troubles. But she finds it frustrating in the same way television angels probably never do - they don't always want to be rescued, or if so, they have conditions about how they'd like to be rescued. Whenever she would try to tell me about these problems in the car, I'd always propose solutions, she'd get frustrated with my ideas, and go silent. I was always perplexed.

Since reading that, whenever she talks about these things, I listen, echo back what she's saying, and don't try to saddle up to the rescue. Angels already know what they need to do. They just need someone to listen from time to time.