Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man

when he gets ready, he won’t be opening any of your doors, and
even though you asked him to be there at seven, he won’t show
up until eight—all because you didn’t (a) acknowledge that a
man always has a plan and (b) act accordingly.
This is precisely what was on my father-in-law’s mind when
one of my daughters brought home her alleged “boyfriend” to
the house for a family dinner. You should know that my father-
in-law is one of the smartest men I ever met in my life—
he’s a man I look up to, and I look up to very few men. The
things that come out of his mouth are usually, if not always, on
point and make me think. The same was true this particular
evening when he lined up this boy on the living room couch
and asked him plain as day, “So, what’s your plan with my
granddaughter?”
The young man, about thirty, asked very simply, “What do
you mean by that?”
“I mean just what I asked,” my father-in-law said. “What is
your plan?”
“I don’t have no plan,” he said.
“Then what are you doing?” my father-in-law asked.
“I’m just trying to get to know her,” he insisted.
“But what’s your plan? Where is this going?” my father-in-
law snapped back.
Finally, under the pressure of the questioning, the squared
shoulders, and two straight-faced black men making it clear we
know the game, the boy finally broke down and said those four
fateful words: “We’re just kicking it.”