A short guide for women on men based upon something that they understand. Shoes.
You can trace the development of your young man by watching him as he grows up and progresses through his attitude towards shoes.
Hates shoes and won't wear them. - This can go anywhere from the toddler stage to time for kindergarten. Has been spotted into the late 20's. (Run from them!)
Tolerates shoes, but they are all the same to him. - Oh the joyous time from when he will wear them without immediately taking them off when your back is turned until he realizes that people care about what other people put on their feet.
Will only wear ONE style/brand of shoe, be it at the mall or in a tuxedo. - The "My shoes identify my clique/social group" stage. This period can last for decades. Sometimes it continues that long from sheer inertia.
Will wear any shoe so long as its cheap. - Has wearied of the whole "shoe as a status symbol" thing and moved on to practical things like saving money. This is a good time to swoop in and begin to mold a future mate. Or perhaps he got so old that his style isn't even made anymore. Then you may need to run. That guy is as likely to suddenly try in his 30's or 40's to pick a newer trendy style and just look old and pathetic instead.
Realizes cheap shoes suck and begins to look for quality shoes to last decades. - This guy is ready for committment and he understands that you want to be comfortable in life, not cheap. He knows what he likes and won't be as easily molded to a particular ideal. Step back one stage if you find you want to do a major rework.
Is dissappointed to find that not every shoe goes with every article of clothing. Cleans out the bottom of the closet to make room for rows of high quality shoes. - Be careful if he makes it to this stage. Your man could easily go Metro and provide actual competition for the household's clothing budget. He could also have found his latent homosexual tendencies and be seeing a guy name Chet on the side. Either way, you need to keep any eye on him and steer him back to safer, manly territory. Try buying him some power tools.
If you are having a problem with your male, just refer to the stages above in order to understand his prevailing philosophy in life. You may be able to hasten him along to the next stage, but do notice that some stages can take decades and you may waste years in the trying.
