My bathroom is a mess right now.
Bags of makeup, several types of shampoo, curling irons, straightening irons, and a bunch of other irons/ hair care tools that I have no idea what they do. I wonder about my visiting sisters and their friends. Do I really know what they look like?
Girls are messy. I'm not talking about "women" or "ladies," or any of the other things that a group of single men might idealize them to be. Let no one fool you. Girls are messy. They're loud, they're messy, they're emotional, and they have some sort of assembly line factory that they construct in the bathroom that helps them to become the person you see and idealize every day at school or work or church.
It's been a while since I've been this close to girls. Real girls. messy, loud, emotional hair care factory girls. I've just been staring at the bathroom, trying to guess what things do, or even which direction you hold them.
Boys are simple. we don't do much to make ourselves look presentable. We wash our clothes, shower, shave, and brush our teeth. Beyond that, there's not much help for us. Boys are simple, girls are complicated. That's probably why we don't really understand each other very well. We form this strange paradox in relationships. We pull each other in different ways, each trying to make the other more like them.
I had forgotten what it was like to live with girls. I had gotten used to this male-centric existence that I had been living. I had forgotten how much I needed them. Even though we don't always get along. Even though we're technically opposites, even though I don't really understand most of the things they do. I need them.
Boys and girls have this long, sordid history of not getting along, and hurting each other. I've been hurt enough to not want it anymore, but I've learned something this week about girls, in the middle of all the video games, girly movies, and (wrong) lyrics to John Denver being sung out loud. I think we need each other, and I think that without these relationships, we'll always be just one half of the equation.
