Ladies, imagine that you’re being wooed[sup]*[/sup] by two different men. Each man is your type (whatever that is) and is handsome, witty, and financially stable; and you, for purposes of this discussion, are single, available, and willing to date. You’re not yet in love with either man, but you do know that neither will want to continue dating unless you become exclusive.
One of your suitors has great culinary skill. He has dozens upon dozens of recipes in his head, and he can make up more on the spot from a cupboard as bare as Old Mother Hubbard’s[sup]†
[/sup] cupboard. Everything that emerges from his kitchen is sublime, and because he loves to cook, his output is both varied and prodigious.
The second gallant is a mechanical savant. Show him a broken air conditioner, computer, car–pretty much any mechanical or electronic device–and he can figure out what’s wrong with it and how to fix it (or whether it can be fixed) faster than almost anyone. He’s always tinkering and devising amusing and/or useful little gadgets[sup]‡[/sup] as well.
Assuming all else is equal, which man are you likely to find more attractive?
Poll in a moment.
[sup]*[/sup] Yeah, I wrote wooed. Yes, I know it’s not 1872. I’m anachronicistic. Or maybe a Luddite. I can never keep those straight. I just know that whenever I see a railway I have the urge to throw my shoe into it.
[sup]†[/sup] Or is it Little Miss Muffet? Was she the one who lived in a shoe?
[sup]‡[/sup] Which is not to say he’s MacGuyver. Because, really, what kind of sick freak wants to date Richard Dean Anderson?
Since I can already cook quite well, when I want to, I would want the guy that could fix things, simply because his skills would be more usefull to me.
Culinary. Didn’t even have to read the second choice. I actually married a guy who essentially wasn’t good at anything because he was a great cook. Note to self: Don’t do that again.
You know, I’ve heard comments like this before. In the early 2000s I had a girlfriend who really wanted to get married – scratch that. She really wanted to BE married, and as I was the person she was dating that desire got pointed at me. Anyway, she was bothered that I like to cook (note: I am hardly a genius chef as is described in the OP) and do my own laundry; she felt I had no room for a woman in my life.
Are you SURE you could learn to be mechanical? I genuinely believe there’s some native aptitude involved in acquiring mechanical skill, and that a good number of people simply don’t have it, just as a good number of people are tone deaf.
She was not the girl for you. The girl for you is the one whose preferences in a partner match up with your qualities and vice versa. Also, the girl for you is not the girl who just wants to BE married to whoever’s handy.
You have no idea. She was fucked in the head in many ways.
The OP says that the great chef loves to cook and does so a, ll the time. I am far hardly a great chef (more an adequate cook), but I do cook as much as I can get away with, and mostly for other people, because cooking is an end in itself for me. And compliments don’t hurt either. So yes, I’d say the culinary genius is likely to cook for you.
As for the mechanical savant – well, I’m not mechanically inclined. But I think it’d be risk to expect your non-live-in boyfriend to provide you with endless free repairs; he’d likely feel exploited after a point.
I’m waffling. On the one hand, I need to eat every day, but mechanical stuff doesn’t need to be fixed every day. Also, I really hate cooking, and don’t really mind hiring a handyman for the mechanical stuff. That makes me lean towards the cook. On the other hand, I’m a pretty picky eater, and some days I just want cereal for dinner, you know? So maybe I wouldn’t be able to appropriately appreciate the talents of the chef, and that wouldn’t be good for a relationship, either.
Add “home repair savant” to “mechanical savant” and you’ve really got something there! I can cook for myself; a guy who can put an addition on the house or re-shingle the roof? RRRrrrawr!
I can cook just fine, thank you. I picked mechanical because a man who can (and will) fix anything really does get my motor going. And, yes, I’d like him to look like Richard Dean Anderson. Skald, if I could have voted twice, you’d be withdrawing the slander or wishing you were wearing a athletic cup.
The real question is if he’ll clean the kitchen after he’s done cooking? Because that would give cooking a huge edge. If I have to clean up after varied and prodigious meals every day, then I’d almost rather just live on takeout.
I can fix stuff. I really don’t need anyone to do that for me.
As I said I’m not a great cook, but I am a good one, and I do most of the actual cooking in my house. When I’m making an meal, say, I clean up as I’m going along–partly because the entire cooking job is easier that way, and partly because people who are not helping cook are not allowed in the kitchen while cooking is ongoing, as they’re just in the way. So when the meal is ready to serve, the kitchen IS clean, except for the flatware, silverware, and serving dishes; the cookware will already have been cleaned and put away, all surfaces wiped down, and so forth.
Are you saying you’d expect your truly great chef to do the dishes in addition to all the stuff I do? Because that seems to be edging him into servant territory.
I can cook and have a fair amount of mechanical aptitude, too, and take on every household repair I can physically manage alone. But I voted for mechanical, because doing things is more practical and useful than thinking about things. But there’s a caveat: he has to allow me to help, too, or be a willing teacher. I don’t need someone to pamper me or take care of me but I do need someone to do projects with, whether it’s grilling out or building a deck. I’m a hands on person, but it’s got to be 50-50.
