An all-by-himself do-it-yourselfer — is that a ‘guy thing’?
Is it a “guy thing” or just “my guy” thing? Pete won’t ask for help — it’s much more than getting out and asking for directions, it’s asking for help of any kind. He has the opinion he is the man of the house — which he is, naturally — and that he can do everything that needs to be done in and around his own castle as well as vehicles.
He’s a sign painter — a good one.
He is an auto mechanic, electrician, plumber, brick layer, mason, tile man, flooring putter-downer, etc. He thinks he is.
I probably ask for help too much and too often; Pete almost never does unless I hound him to death. I recall the time we had partial tile in our shower for almost a year until I finally insisted we hire someone to finish the job. It was not my husband’s finest moment.
I worry about his well-being as he ages but still insists on doing things himself. I fear he will seriously hurt himself.
I should have been aware of this particular mind-set when we were first married and this scenario played out:
I was working in a small hospital in the surgery area where I scheduled surgeries. I got a phone call from my new husband casually asking me to recommend an orthopedist. When I asked why he told me “one of the guys” had injured himself on a billboard — at the time he painted billboards for a large outdoor advertising firm — and he needed a name for the guy. I provided the name of a well-thoughtof partnership located not far from the hospital, gave him the address and phone number.
Imagine my shock when that office called me to come and pick up my husband — who had dislocated his knee and was placed in a type of flexible cast. I found out afterward that he had fallen from a billboard several feet and dislocated his knee. I believe that he was working alone but don’t recall. How he managed to get himself in the company truck and out of there (some of these billboards were located in very overgrown, snakeinfested areas) I will never know.
Now I hound him all the time when I think he may be venturing too far into territory which requires a person with expertise in a said field.
Poor guy, he’s only trying to take care of everything.
He will always be a hero to me regardless.