It's All A Matter Of Scale




Sitting around my kitchen table last night one of my friends confessed she had driven too close to a parked car and hit her wing mirror.

No great damage done. The other car was fine and hers just needed the cover replacing on the mirror. She said her husband tut-tutted in that superior way men have on the rare occasions they are better at something than we are and muttered about women having no spatial awareness.

I told her it was nothing to do with spatial awareness. Some women have difficulty judging lengths and distances because men have been telling us since they could form whole sentences that the distance between their thumb and forefinger is 12 inches (sorry, rude joke there!) No wonder we're confused.

It's all a matter of scale.

Elder sister can remember when she was five or six our eldest brother, a whole two years older than her and therefore a man of the world, trying to explain the vast scale of London.

We lived on a farm in rural England and he explained patiently that London was at least as wide as the distance from our house to the gate down the road - a few hundred yards - and she was really impressed that there was a city in the world as big as that.

A quick search of the internet reveals London in fact measures some 607 square miles so big brother was slightly out in his calculations! 

So, yes, when it comes to scale and proportion, ladies, take no notice of the men in your life. Look it up on the internet - which is ALWAYS totally accurate, isn't it?




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10 comments:

  1. In general, men are more skillful drivers than women, they make up for that by being stupider drivers, and stupid defeats skill most of the time.

    It is also generally the man who decides he has not had too much to drink to drive and will forcefully demand to take the wheel even if his female passenger is sober.

    I understand any opinion that suggests men and women have different abilities is politically incorrect and I fully apologize for voicing it. I went to school when we were taught how to think, not what to think, so i often think wrong.

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    1. I actually agree with you. Studies have shown that men and women have different strengths and "wired" differently. But it's such a wide spectrum that there is much overlapping. Vive la difference, I say!

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  2. I don't think men are better drivers. I think guys in the older generations just had more practice at it. The younger generation woman can climb up on any big piece of equipment, buses and trucks with the best of men.

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    1. Studies here in the UK show that men are, on average, more skilful drivers but women, on average, are safer drivers which is why insurance for women drivers is cheaper. As I said to Joe, there's such a wide spectrum that I, a woman, could be the most skilful driver in the world (I'm not!) and my friend, a man, the safest driver in the world. I get what you're saying about men having more practice. I think the gap is closing rapidly.

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  3. Still giggling about the thumb and forefinger. I really think the only area men automatically out do us is lifting heavy items. I'll give them that any day. Driving?? Just looked it up. Men cause more accidents but are slightly less at risk than women.

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    1. Yes, men are often useful for lifting heavier items. Good job they're good at something, ha, ha!

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  4. As for driving, women get better insurance rates than men because they are safer drivers. The statistics are there to back it up.

    I will never agree that women don't have spatial awareness. Some women might not. But I for one am pretty good at that sort of thing.

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    1. I actually am poor at spatial awareness and find it difficult to judge distances and widths. However, I consider myself a good driver as I have trained myself to be extra careful when I need, for example, to judge whether my car will fit in a certain space.

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  5. 607 square miles? Is that the city center or the whole thing including all suburbs? I think Adelaide is much smaller and it's quite big enough to suit me. I'm not sure how good my spatial awareness is, but I'm glad I don't drive.

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  6. It's the whole of London. There is a distinction between London and The City of London. The City of London is the centre and is much smaller.

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