The Male Conundrum, 2006

More proof it’s hard to be a man in the twenty-first century: these conflicting mandates:

59 Things a Man Should Never Do Past 30:

6. Hang art with tape.

Hanging Pictures on Rock-Hard Plaster Walls:

Back then, walls were finished with three coats of plaster — like the ones in your home — that dried like rock. Hooks with nails won’t go in easily. You might consider using hooks that attach with adhesive.

I guess one can avoid the conflict by only living in homes with drywall after 30 (or mud-walled hovels if that’s your personality), so it’s not a true conundrum.

Fortunately, I know men, real men, don’t check off items in these sorts of checklists of manly behavior and disobey all sorts of dicta. So I’ll just ignore both.

If the nail bends, I’m just not using a big enough hammer.

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2 thoughts on “The Male Conundrum, 2006

  1. Two words: duct tape.

    I actually used it to wrap presents on Christmas Eve a few years ago after running out of Scotch tape (I rolled it and applied the tape on the inside, natch). What’s more manly than that?

  2. I used to do that with shipping tape, actually.

    Of course, when it comes to wrapping presents, there’s nothing like using newspaper or wrapping birthday presents in Christmas paper turned inside out. As a matter of fact, Heather had to deal with this several years in a row.

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