Shopping with spouse: Fun or punishment for men?

Chioma Iyke-AniFew days ago, I was discussing with a colleague in the office and then it started raining. She was disturbed that the rain had ruined her plans because she had planned to branch off to the market to buy some groceries before heading home. I suggested that she ask her husband to help her […]

Chioma Iyke-AniFew days ago, I was discussing with a colleague in the office and then it started raining. She was disturbed that the rain had ruined her plans because she had planned to branch off to the market to buy some groceries before heading home. I suggested that she ask her husband to help her buy one or two ingredients she needed for their dinner, and then tomorrow she could shop for the rest.
Her response was “that’s the last thing he would do.” And then she went further to say that she can’t remember when last her husband bought food stuff for the house. “He doesn’t like to go to the market, not even to buy his own things. I buy most of his personal items like clothing, shoes, toiletries etc.”
There’s this general notion that most men hate going shopping, especially with their significant other. Womanhood asked a few men if it was true.
Anthony Maliki, a journalist, said he personally loves to go shopping with his wife. “I love to shop with my wife. It gives us the opportunity to put heads together and decide on the things we need and the ones we don’t. Because we shop together, we could always review the items or prices. It’s also a kind of ‘bonding time’ for us, away from the kids.”
How does he cope with the time women waste while shopping? “When I feel tired or that she is wasting too much time, I simply go to the car and relax and wait for her.”
Kelechi Iwuchukwu, a lawyer, says “I don’t think men hate shopping. What I hate is shopping for clothes or shoes with my wife. I can’t imagine anything more boring. I simply do not understand why women aimlessly wander around, from shop to shop, just to see if a particular item is going to be any different from the other hundred they have seen before. I don’t mind shopping with my woman for things we are both interested in.”
Olajide Olagoke, 36-year-old architect, says shopping with his wife is a big no, no. “I can’t imagine myself walking up and down the market with my wife. I would rather give her money to go and shop for whatever she wants and leave me out of it. By the way, I love to take her out all the time but not for shopping. We go to cinema, club, weekend shows, and sightseeing but definitely not to the market. Not even to the shopping mall.”
Utiben Udofia, 42-year-old graphic artist, says “I can’t go to the open market (Wuse, Utako, Garki markets in Abuja) with my wife but I can go shopping with her to places like Jabi Mall, Ceddi Plaza, Next Cash n Carry. Going to the open markets would be punishment for me while the shopping malls would be fun. In these places, I would have time and opportunity to check up on electronic gadgets, films, work tools and some of the things I’m interested in. I will always have something to keep me busy until she is done with her shopping.
Why does he prefer the malls to the open market? Udofia says, “One ugly experience I had at the Garki Market some years back put me off. I had gone to the market with her, meandering from one section of the market to the other just to buy things we would have bought just by the road side. She said things were cheaper in that part of the market but the market was too crowded and dirty for my liking.”