Real Men Don’t Cry During Pedicures

Funny story, so the other day I was getting a pedicure.  A once-every-2-months type of guilty pleasure.  Seriously, nothing like a woman with little hands rubbing your dogs… feels awesome.

Anyway, back on the ranch…

While I was sitting there, I “elected” for the paraffin wax treatment.  Not a usual for me, but hell, it was part of the “Pumpkin” special… and I’m wily like that.

However, this lady wasn’t messing around.  She didn’t let that bag-o-wax cool down at  before she stuck my foot in there (I noticed other people got a more “gentle” treatment for some reason).

I swear I felt my foot was going to burn slam off!

Really, how would burn blisters make my feet softer?  (not that I really care about soft feet… at least on me anyway)

Then, out of nowhere… I thought about it.   This is painful enough to make a person cry.  Seriously – and this is from the guy who doesn’t even cry at funerals.

And the irony hit me.  Here I am, doing whats arguably one of the least “manly” things a guy can do – and I had to “man up” for it.

Weird, huh.

Which brings me to my real point.

I hate the phrases “man up” and “real men do (blank)”

Why?  It’s simple.  They fall in the same category as “scam” and “not healthy” as far as I’m concerned.   You hear these and you IMMEDIATELY stop whatever process or activity you were doing that these are attached to and start doing something else, for no good reason other than someone else cried wolf.  And generally, it’s some abstract viewpoint that follows like:

• you’re not a real man unless you can do 20 pull-ups… so you go on a pull-up bender  (it’s not like winning a pull-up contest is gonna make the rent, just saying)
• you’re not a real woman unless you can make your man’s toes curl so hard the bones actually break  (this would actually be awesome!)

You get the idea.

Just do your thing.  Real man (or woman) or not.  It’s your life.

Live for your own happiness – and don’t let anyone bully you… EVER.

Even if it means crying during pedicures…