Shopping with your partner: a man's ordeal explained

Why shopping as a couple is a battlefield: 4 minutes versus 4 hours

For many men, walking into a clothing store is a precision operation: locate the item, pay, and be out within ten minutes at most. For their partner, it's a fully-fledged social activity: strolling, comparing, feeling fabrics, trying things on and keeping on looking without any need to buy anything. It's no joke: it's one of the most common sources of friction in relationships.

Some explain it as an almost biological difference in goals: men hunt, women explore. The male shopper plots the optimal route, arrives with a mental list and his only aim is to get out fast. The recreational shopper, on the other hand, sees the store as a space for entertainment. The result is the classic scene of the man sitting down —or standing, because there are no seats— holding bags that aren't his, wondering how much longer it will take.

With nuances: not all women enjoy recreational shopping, and some men do. The dividing line isn't gender but attitude towards shopping: is it a task or a pleasure? The problem erupts when both visions collide in the same fitting room. And until the retail industry designs spaces for the accompanying partner, the complaint will remain a constant in household conversations (and sayings).

The question remains open: are we dealing with an evolutionary issue, a cultural one, or simply a matter of furniture in shopping malls? Perhaps the answer lies with the next person waiting in the car with the engine running outside.