Fish and bicycles

One of the main characteristics of working in customer services is interacting with the general public. As anyone who's ever stood on the business side of a counter will know, you hear all sorts of comments to which your only permitted response is a polite smile. The one I heard yesterday is one I've heard many times before, but it's lit my blue touchpaper so here I go. Recently we had our computer system changed. This technological wonder has empowered us to do all manner of hi-teckery. It also means it takes us twice as long to perform basic functions. A customer watched me serve her and expressed disbelief at this. Then she looked at the shiny new hardware and said, "I bet it was invented by a man." Pffft. Szzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Bang. (That was my blue touchpaper in case you were wondering.) Will the world please stop running men down? I know this may seem a little odd in a blog written by a professional spinster, but I like men. I really do. Not enough to want one of my own, but I am fond of them, by and large. Men have done amazing things over the centuries. Off the top of my head, men have invented telescopes, discovered penicillin, pioneered surgical techniques, fought fires, built bridges and railways and cities and drainage systems. They've founded charities to care for children, stood up for injustice, died for causes they believed in. They've composed sonatas and operas and chorales and played air guitar with no trace of irony. And put up countless shelves and removed innumerable spiders from baths. Yes, women can do these things too. Yes, I have heard of Marie Curie and Marie Stopes and Amelia Earheart and Mother Teresa and Erin Pizzey. And yes, I manage without a man about the house. I am the stranded spider's friend. Give me a screwdriver and flat-pack furniture and I'm happy for hours. I used to be a scientist and engineer. I wasn't very good at either, which is why I stopped, but that's because I took a wrong turning early in my career. It's nothing to do with gender. I don't go round sneering at iPods or Twitter because they were invented by men. I go round sneering at them because I'm a luddite at heart and cling to my vinyl LPs and postal communication out of sheer perversity. Since when did having two X chromosomes give women such a superiority complex? Except it's not based on superiority at all, because if women did feel they had the upper hand in any perceived disparity, they wouldn't need to be undermining. They'd act as if it was so final there'd be no need to comment. And don't say men have had it all their own way for too long, repressing women and waving their patriarchy at everyone. So what? People are people. It's time we stop this 'yah-boo, I'm better than you' attitude and start showing respect for people as fellow human beings. Because no-one ever said "I bet that was invented by a woman." Where's the equality in that?