Wednesday 27 July 2011

The 5 types



I work as a part-time sales assistant in a department store and as an avid people-watcher this seems to suit me quite nicely as I just stare at everybody going past or visiting my little concession.
For the past year I have watched in particular the men coming shopping with their wives/girlfriends and have devised that there are 5 types:

1. The Ghost
This man just glides behind his wife/girlfriend while she is shopping without saying anything or making any sort of conversation with her. Only his presence is felt. He is not interested or disinterested with what the wife/girlfriend is looking at, and gives that vacant expression look that he would much rather be at home playing on his XBOX. He can sometimes be found to just wander behind the woman on his mobile phone.

2. The Enthusiast
This type of man is more excited than his wife/girlfriend about shopping. As they walk past rails of clothes he will pick out things that he thinks she would like (a.k.a things he secretly likes and wants her to wear) and make comments about their flattering shape and colour. He thinks he is the next Gok Wan and that he alone can dress his wife/girlfriend in the most stylish attire. He is the type of man who makes his wife come out of the changing room to model her look and then remarks openly on whether he likes or dislikes her outfit!

3. The Hopeless Romantic
This type of man is my favourite to people watch as it is so cute! This man will walk hand-in-hand with the girl to any shops she wants to look at. He looks interested in what she picks out and carries her shopping. When she goes into the fitting rooms he just waits patiently outside and will say "that looks lovely" if she decides to model her outfit. When they get to the counter to pay for the purchases he sneakily pays for whatever she wants and gives her a little smile which totally means he loves her!

(This type of man should not be confused with a man who is forced into carrying the girl's shopping, paying for all her clothes etc. That man is a push-over. The type of man I'm describing is one who treats his girl to these sort of things just to make her feel special).

4. The Moaner
This type of man just moans and whines throughout the entire shopping experience. He moans about spending money, about looking at clothes, about the price of clothes, about how long his lady spent in the changing room, about how it is a complete waste of time and about how she already has enough clothes at home. He will hassle his wife to leave the shop and try and rally the sales assistants to be on his side by trying to come off as a bit of a joker. This is not the man who want to go shopping with.

5. The Drowning Man
This man is out of his depth as soon as he walks into a clothing store. He has the expression of a deer caught in headlights and seems awkwardly out of place the entire time. Yet, there is something so lovable about this man as it is clear that he does not like shopping and does not feel 100% comfortable but he will go into these clothing shops because of the love he has for his girl. He will even try and compliment her when she is trying on clothes and even though it is an awkward, mumbled reply, it is sincere. He will try to make her shopping trip as nice as possible and will never complain that he has had enough or he wants to leave.

Diet Coke: launch of themed brand campaign timed to coincide with London Fashion Week
(source)
There you have it! My 5 types of men who accompany their wives/girlfriends shopping. This data has been collected over a large period of people-watching time and is both accurate and educational. Where do you think your man falls in this category? I had a think about this and think my fiancé is the drowning man. I think a lot of men probably fall into that category as they are not shopping fans!

2 comments:

  1. Haha uhm I hope Adam doesn't hate me for this but I think he is the Hopeless Romantic :D xx

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  2. Hmm actually sometimes he could be number 1

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