Sometimes men have to shop in a store that's primarily frequented by women (e.g. a linen store, or a store that sells mostly handbags and other women's accessories).
These stores often sell men's items or useful general items too, but I guess men feel these stores are too "girly" to shop in. To encourage men's business, I suggest these stores offer a special express checkout line just for men.
This is no different than bars/clubs that increase their attractiveness to women by offering free admission to women.
(The reverse idea is fine to me too - stores frequented by mostly men could offer a woman only checkout line)-- phundug, Dec 16 2008 internet dogs http://www.cartoonb...ge=1&sortBy=popular [n81641, Dec 17 2008] I thought bars/clubs offered free admission to women to increase their attractiveness to men.
Wouldn't being segregated in this way make people feel even more self-conscious about shopping in a store of the wrong gender? Also, I would feel slightly cheated out of the full experience of shopping in a fabric or sewing or other girly shop if I went through the special mens' checkout.-- spidermother, Dec 16 2008 Well, men don't *have* to go to the men's checkout. If they love waiting on line with hundreds of women around Christmas time, then they're welcome to :)-- phundug, Dec 16 2008 Can we have this for grocery stores, too?-- Spacecoyote, Dec 16 2008 I was thinking along a similar theme, but chose not to post as it may have been misconstrued - "Christmas Gun" was to be a fully automatic weapon, bedecked in holly and tinsel that can be used to clear a reasonable (unisex) amount of personal space for yourself whilst out among the Christmas throng, purchasing cheer and goodwill. Possible riffs on the theme include "Christmas Arsenal", "Christmas Howitzer", "Christmas Flame Thrower", "Christmas Riot Tank", "Christmas Anti-Personnel Grenade" and so on...-- zen_tom, Dec 16 2008 //increase their attractiveness to men// the women's attractiveness? marvellous.-- po, Dec 16 2008 Increase the clubs' attractiveness to men. Prolly works as you desire also, [po], due to lighting and beer.-- spidermother, Dec 16 2008 //To encourage men's business// Is this one of those euphemisms that I am unfamiliar with? A male equivalent of 'womens trouble', probably involving either the prostate or a bookie, perhaps?-- DrBob, Dec 16 2008 or simply let women/men to the front of the line, so the rest of us can comfortably chat away or stand in stoic silence.
But what about women/men who *are* comfortable shopping for shoes or lawn seed, respectively ? Makes them feel a bit self-conscious, no ?-- FlyingToaster, Dec 16 2008 The only place I can see this as being useful would be at Michael's. There's something about that store that just makes my testicles shrink whenever I step inside. You'd think a store that sells leather, model rocket engines, construction paper, glass tiles, and such along with beads and fake flowers would be fairly gender-neutral...-- ye_river_xiv, Dec 16 2008 There's also the woman who asks for a yard from every single pattern in the store and occupies all the workers for 30 minutes.
And before you start accusing me of stereotyping, I'll tell you, this is a true story, I saw it with my own eyes.-- Spacecoyote, Dec 16 2008 (-) I don't get gimmicks like this, nor the point of treating one group worse to attract another. The gender divisions in stores are bad enough already. I'm supposed to feel self-conscious shopping for lawn seed? Really? You can actually believe that and function in everyday society without raising suspicion about your mental health? Amazing.
Competent, polite, salespeople, well-staffed and -marked cash registers, and decent wares are not gender-specific in their appeal. How about we start there?-- jutta, Dec 17 2008 I do like the idea of express checkout lines for people with faster checkout characteristics; but not to encourage men into women's clothing stores. Priority should be given to people who don't wish to chat to the cashier, who have added up the value of their shopping basket and prepared cash to match by the time they reach the front of the queue, who don't hold things up whilst they put their cards, receipts, change etc. back in their purse and their purse in their handbag, who are able to keep up with the cashier when it comes to removing items and putting them into the shopping trolley, and who are careful enough to ensure that they select produce with the barcode still fully attached. Whether such people are men or women is immaterial.-- vincevincevince, Dec 17 2008 // I'm not too happy with this one. It seems to me that gender stereotyping is a bad thing. — UnaBubba, Dec 16 2008 //
oohhh, UB is such a smart man!! This is a sexist idea and I, being a woman, still hate waiting in line with a bunch of people, be they women or men! agreed with [vinceX3]-- xandram, Dec 17 2008 Since everyone hates waiting in line, how about an invention that allows one to choose what they want at home and a service that brings it to them.-- Spacecoyote, Dec 17 2008 //I'm supposed to feel self-conscious shopping for lawn seed? Really? You can actually believe that and function in everyday society without raising suspicion about your mental health? Amazing.//[marked-for-tagline] oh o.k. it is a tad long...-- po, Dec 17 2008 Just shop online. (see link)-- n81641, Dec 17 2008 [ye] 'cuz it's too sterile, the walls are white and the font for the sign is too flamboyant.... and the cashmere sweaters are *much* too close to the plumbing supplies.
[po] I think the distinction is between the polar opposites of a frilly store and an auld-fashioned hardware store.... I *don't* feel comfortable in the former: even the items that I *can* identify fall (for me) into the categories occupied by wrapping-paper or fire-kindling, there's the real dangers of ruining a fine fabric by handling it with calluses and (real or virtual) grease on my hands, and quite frankly, the colour pink does less than nothing for me.... think "bull in a china shop" with the possibility of imminent castration even if nothing is knocked over.
No clue if wimmen have similar sized misgivings about emerging intact from a heavy-metal shop where dropping an item on your foot means ruining the foot, not the item.-- FlyingToaster, Dec 17 2008 Sexist, like the bars. Boned.-- erlehmann, Dec 20 2008 I was quoting, FT.
Give me a hardware store over a frilly place any day - whatever a frilly place is.-- po, Dec 20 2008 Personally, I like stores with girls in them. This is merely a suggestion for stores to increase their market share.-- phundug, Dec 20 2008 [+] There was an outlet store near where I lived once, and once in a thrifty moment I decided to buy a nice outlet shirt.
The line stretched fifteen to twenty women in front of me. There was one other man, purchasing a curtain rod, attached via obligation and guilt to a small, snippy woman.
The clerks all made nice conversation and slowly folded and unfolded and folded again all the clothing. Velvets and silks and cottons, all colors, with purses and shoes and bath beads, piled up on the counter and were gradually packed away in bags. Minutes passed.. hours.. These customers didn't wear simple patterns, so with the landscape was painted in leopard prints and racing stripes and blues and pinks and dangly gold earrings clinking as conversation haltingly developed about the other girl at the office and that she was seeing the guy who saw the other girl at the office, the one with the mother who was sick, poor soul. Massive sedentary ass cheeks shifted left and right, while all around the scent and odor of chemicals, powders and perfumes of flowers and spices...
By the time I reached the counter I was nearly unconscious, just able to throw cash at the clerk and lunge for the outdoors, jogging towards the revival of a steering wheels and levers and exhaust fumes.
I would have paid a surcharge for an express lane. While I think that, in theory, women are identical to men, the reality of the situation I think shows that pragmatic solutions such as this still have merit until all gender lines are erased and women stop buying all those goddamn clothes.-- mylodon, Dec 21 2008 I like the idea of an express lane with a surcharge. Open to anyone willing to pay 5% more for fast service.-- drememynd, Dec 21 2008 random, halfbakery