Hi everyone. I've experienced every kind of Mansplaining but last night was the first time I've ever seen it as a type of pack behavior among guys. So yesterday evening my grandpa happened to be at our house. Pretty much just an average evening until I asked Tyler to put the vacuum in my trunk so I could take it to the service center today. Instead of just doing what I asked he said " how did you break the vacuum"? Loud enough for my dad to hear so then he asks me what was wrong with the vacuum. I told him it wasn't picking up very well. He says " that vacuum cost as much as a used car and it's less than 2 years old. There shouldn't be any problems with it. What have you been doing to it"?? My first reaction was to tell him only a total klewdge would pay that much for something that should cost 100 bucks at the most, but actually saying that to him would not have been smart. I told him I hadn't done anything with it, well except for taking it outside and vacuuming all the leaves off the front lawn a few times. He told me no one liked a little smart ass and to go get it and bring it to him.
Unfortunately for me he found the roller thing totally covered and wrapped with my hair. So thus starts the Mansplaining and lecturing. And Tyler, Tristan and my grandfather ALL join in. Of all the times not to have any cyanide capsules on hand! How was I supposed to know to check the roller thing? It's supposed to suck the hair up, not wrap it around the stupid roller! So finally the Mansplaining is starting to wind down after my dad had cut a pile of hair off the stupid roller and told me like five times to check it from now on. Then I swear if Tyler didnt pull the bag out which was pretty full. That started a whole new round of Mansplaining about not letting the bag get too full. I did point out that it wasn't totally full but I got mansplained about changing it when it was just half full, blah, blah.
So then my dad started Mansplaining that it was important to "maintain" the vacuum just like it was important to clean the lint thing on the dryer or clean the filter in the dishwasher. Filter in the dishwasher? ?? I didn't say that of course but I guess the look on my face said it for me. My dad said " please tell me you're cleaning the filter in the dishwasher Julia". Tyler said he was totally sure I probably wasn't. I never knew there was a filter in a dishwasher. My dad swears he showed me where it was and how to take it out and clean it right after they installed it. But if he did I totally don't remember it. I do remember my dad pointing out all the different settings and features right after we got it but he went on and on to the point I was so totally bored I thought about sticking my hand in the garbage disposal and turning it on just to end the boredom. So I was bound to forget some of what he was going on about. So he immediately goes into the kitchen followed by the other 3 guys and pulls out the dishwasher filter. Yeah, ok, it was NASTY. I had never cleaned it because I didn't know it was there. All four of them let out an actual gasp and looked at me like I had just farted loudly in the middle of someone's wedding vows. Then my grandpa said " well what did you expect? Mixing females with machinery is just asking for disaster" OMG! Talk about Mansplaining, scolding and lecturing! I felt like a baby gazelle surrounded by a pack of lions. I've never experienced Mansplaining as a group activity before. What an unpleasant experience!
Of course I have Tyler's big mouth to thank for the whole thing. I owe him a batch of laxative brownies. Right after I brush my dog's teeth with his toothbrush.
