When a girl cries

Dear Diary,

Ok, that has nothing to do with me and I did not make any girl cry recently, haha... However, it did get me wondering why guys feel so helpless when a girl cries. In fact, that feeling can be pretty stifling.

Today, a Wednesday (3rd March 2010), I had a harrowing experience trying to attend a meeting at National University Hospital (NUH) when I realised that all carparks from NUH to the multipurpose sports hall were full to the brim! It was only after I made a loop at the University Cultural Centre (UCC) and headed back towards NUH, did I notice the sign "Carpark" at the new University Hall (at the former Sheare's Hall)... Thank God, I managed to find a lot in there. After which, I took an internal shuttle to NUH for a meeting.

At about 4.15pm, the meeting had ended and I was all ready to return to my car... I approached the bus-stop nearby NUH by foot, and waited at the bus-stop for the internal shuttle A1. Heard a little sniffle... so I wheeled around and saw a girl with eyes slightly red. Didn't think much of it as the bus soon arrived to my delight. The girl flagged the bus and I waited. She attempted to board the bus at the back door but the driver did not open it. For me, I went up from the front door like any rule-abiding fella, haha... She boarded the bus and sat probably just a row behind me near the back door. The bus was pretty empty.

I could hear her weeping and sobbing. Just didn't feel quite comfortable around a weeping girl and not doing anything. Thankfully, I would alight at the second bus-stop. As I prepared to alight, I thought it was only right that I offered her a packet of tissue paper. Searched my pocket... oops, haven't got any... oh well... can't be helped. =(

As I walked from the bus stop to the carpark, I wondered why would a guy feel this way. I hypothesize that it could be because guys are natural problem solvers. When we see a problem, we wanna solve it. However, when a girl cries, she needs a listening ear and an empathising heart (not valid for strangers, haha) more than any splendid solution we can conjure, haha... Then again, most guys know that they can't really stop a crying girl from crying... that thought makes us feel helpless...

Crying is a good way to relieve emotional tension. Guys don't really have such an option. If a guy cry, most will look at him as if he is weird. If a girl cry... oh... poor thing! Yeah... similarly, if you see a girl slap a guy from afar, you will probably go "He probably deserved it". If it is the other way, you will probably remark "How dare he do that... that bully... that cad... rarr".

Our emotions, behaviours and reactions are subtly shaped by the societal expectations, cultural norms and environmental influence. It is hard to explain why we feel that way, so we guys shouldn't feel too bad in the vicinity about a weeping girl unless of course you are the cause of the problem! Haha...

Just a very random entry for my itching fingers.

Cheers!

God Bless,

Andrew