The fundamental differences between men and women extends far beyond physiology and any other -ology you can come up with. Scientists have studied this exhaustively and one researcher famously pontificated we were from Mars and Venus respectively. While all of this may be true (and I don’t mean to belittle the scientific community) one only need examine how men and women use the available storage in their cars to understand their true differences.
Take for instance, the glove compartment. The car, invented by a man, needed a place to hold gloves specifically used for the purpose of driving. In the early days of the automobile, the driving ensemble was part of the whole package. In advertisements for convertibles, it was common to see a gentleman wearing not only gloves, but a cap and scarf as well. One can only assume it was important to look dashing while driving around looking like a pilot. Naturally a convenient place to store all this paraphernalia when not in use was needed, so the glove compartment was born. Since men did most of the driving in the early days, it seems only fitting they would claim the glove compartment as their own.
As cars entered the mainstream of family life, however, more and more had hard tops. I think this had less to do with a shortage of gloves, caps and scarves and more to do with the wife not wanting to emerge from a trip around the block looking like she survived a tornado. Milliners tried incorporating scarves within hat designs themselves, but let’s face it, once the wind got under the front of one of those suckers, it was probably going to end up in a ditch somewhere. I further suspect this is when the evolution of glove compartment contents began to change as women now had their own essentials to store in the car.
Today men will generally have the vehicle registration, proof of insurance, ice scraper and a tire gauge in the glove compartment. Most assuredly, however, few of them will contain gloves, caps or scarves anymore. Fewer still will contain a compact umbrella. Real men do not need an umbrella (or so they think).
The contents of a woman’s glove box will have the requisite documents, ice scraper, (maybe) a tire gauge (but probably not) and maybe gloves in the winter. If the gloves are still there after winter is over, it is only because she forgot about them and will eventually shove them to the bottom of the space; however, if she does leave them, she is grateful for her procrastination once cold weather hits gain. I daresay most women will have an umbrella or two. They may not be in the glove compartment itself, but stuffed under the seat or in the door compartment. Women do love their umbrellas. I myself own three, any two of which are in the car somewhere at any given time.
Although the glove compartment eventually took a back seat (excuse the pun) to the center console, people began to store fewer items in it purely out of convenience. Now there was no reason to lean all the way over the passenger seat to scrounge around for stuff like lotion, Kleenex, dental floss, wet wipes, stamps, pen, notepad, nail clippers, scissors, tape and nail polish when the center console was much more convenient. (And yes, I keep nail polish in my center console. Hey, I might need a quick touch-up or the salon could be out of my favorite color. Don’t judge me.) Men, on the other hand, do not require the plethora of items we deem essential. They will use a take out napkin as a substitute for virtually anything so you will never convince them your essentials are, well, essential.
Sometimes I forget about the glove box unless I need a quick place to stuff receipts, pens, paper, and deposit slips. There are sadly some people who choose to use the adjacent seat or floor for those things and I’m sure if your significant other is guilty of this, you may find it extremely irritating. Feel free to tell them the Kondo method says you should only store things in the car that give you joy. Go into an exhaustive explanation of how everyone benefits from removing clutter. They may look at you funny, but it might spur them to clean just to make you stop talking about it.
Fortunately for carpooling moms there is another storage space men may overlook. You got it! That tray on the floorboard between the front seats (if you drive an SUV – and of course if you don’t, go out and buy one right now because the tray is HUGE.) It can hold your cosmetic bag along with anything else too bulky to fit in another space. Men tend to throw their spare change in there. What a waste of good storage!
Let’s not forget the door pockets! Oh, the door pockets. You are heaven sent. You can hold the mail, coupons and flyers, notebooks and even a good book, Kindle or IPad. If you have children, it can also hold snacks, wipes and extra diapers. Sure, we have to clean you out once in awhile, dear pocket, because the errant french fry will find its way into you. Don’t you worry, the stench of fried food will eventually get to us. It is common knowledge most men don’t truly appreciate the door pocket until they realize it is the source of a rancid stench. And isn’t it fun playing: “What’s that smell?”
Let’s face it: Men and women view storage options inside the car differently. Try telling him the center console, door pockets and floorboard tray are “shared” spaces (meaning it’s really ours). Offer up the glove compartment as a compromise. If you’re lucky, he won’t notice when you eventually take it over too – just like the bathroom. And if this doesn’t work, suggest there is a support group that teaches sharing for couples. Don’t worry. It’s for him. Not you. You’re normal. And who knows? Maybe it’s different on Mars and Venus. I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out. Until then, stake your claim!
