You may remember a book titled Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, which purported to explain the psychological differences of the sexes by positing that they are two separate species with different social customs and views.
I don't think we need to go that far and I've always considered myself a gender equalist but there are differences and one reared its head recently relating to success.
My wife and I enjoy rugby and go to most home games at Exeter and, pre-Covid, many away games. She is the bigger fan and understands the game much more than I do. I enjoy going out - a few drinks - but we both make small wagers on the game to add a little interest.
One of our common bets is on the try-scorers. We both pick two or three players we think will score. This recently led to one of our infrequent arguments because she refused to tell me whom she had bet on - which meant we usually ended up picking different players.
I took this in a negative way - she didn't want to share her success and, instead of us both cheering on the same person, would rather she collected her winnings and I lost my money. I rather spitefully described it as it's not enough that you succeed, everyone else must fail. That was my take on it at least, but hers was completely different - whether the difference was because of gender or simply that we are two different people I don't know.
So what was her rationale for wanting us to not choose the same scorers? She explained that she wanted to maximise our chances of winning something and the more players we picked the better that possibility. If we both picked the same players we lessened our chances of winning albeit that if we did pick a winner the reward would be greater.
So there you have it - I completely misinterpreted her motives and felt like a fool. Whether you think that maximising the chances of reward is more important than having a shared goal is your decision. I would be interested to know whether it is a gender-based division.
Finally, my local team, Exeter Chiefs, have not been having the best season so far any tries would be a bonus - whether we predict the scorer or not.
