Wide open cupboards

Every now and then in the battle to understand the opposite gender there are gulfs in the road too wide to cross.

One gulf surrounds drawers, cupboards and hallway closets.

Somewhere in the male gene pool -- and not to say that all males possess such a genetic rift, but it surfaces enough to be remarkable -- there is an internal message that easy access is a key. Easy access means if the storage area has a door it should be left open. After all, if later effort means just having to open the closet door again to remove a jacket, why not leave the door open all the time. Makes sense, right? Well the answer may depend on a reader's gender.

Maybe the reason for keeping doors open comes with the idea that extra effort should be avoided. You know, to save it for all that hunting and gathering effort.

But perhaps even more astonishing is the idea that once a door is opened there is a certain male reaction. With all the talk of gene therapy, such reactions must be in those basic building blocks.

To study a similar energy-saving male response in an uncontrolled environment, one just needs to observe a trip to the fridge. When looking for a snack, some males will open the door to the refrigerator. Bending and looking and moving a few items in the fridge to find the snack may be unseemly. It's all about standing with the fridge door open, of course, and after a few listless glances announcing the snack is not there.

Witnesses may find this elicits a couple of responses. First a woman will go and move the ketchup bottle and bring out the snack, receiving a claim she was trying to hide the snack in the first place. Or she may find a verbal reprimand is more effective. It's all about that age-old adage of teaching people to fish for themselves instead of supplying them with food that lasts only a day.

There can be elaborate reasons for leaving doors ajar, cupboards wide open and closets exposed. Some will say an open door lets more heat into the storage space. That warmth is needed for tooth brushes and even a sports coat, one may say. And, come to think of it, that may be the only thing saving the fridge door from a constant open state.

Not long ago a friend mentioned to her spouse that the cupboard doors were all left open in the kitchen as soon he left that room. No way, he replied in expressive shock that such a claim could be made. That shock lasted until the next time he was caught leaving the room with all doors wide open behind him.