Who Understands Men?

It's clear to me that men think differently than I do. Now, I know that a lot of women probably think differently than I do, but it seems to be much more common with men than with women.

Example #1: Men don't seem to understand when they are pushing a joke just one step too far. Having a laugh at someone else's expense might be okay once. You might even be able to point to the fallacy of someone's behavior a second time. But a third time? That's really beyond the pale. Why don't they understand that?

Example #2: I am trying this online dating thing again. The response has been very slow. But in the past two days, I have finally heard from a couple of guys. And there's a process that the dating site calls for. You exchanged your feelings about certain relationship deal-breakers - how much to watch your budget, whether religion is a big deal, that kind of thing. Then you send some questions back and forth. Pre-chosen questions. Then you get a chance to email through the service. That way, you are protected from exposure until you really get a chance to talk. But these two guys - both of them - sent me their email address as soon as they could and expected me to use it. Do they not understand that sending them an email to their personal account means exposing my personal email account to them? If they turn out to be crazy or a stalker, they have a way to get a hold of you that you can't just turn off. I've had the same email for a really long time. I don't want to give it up because of some guy that I didn't even know.

Example #3: My married male friends always ask me, within five minutes of the start of a conversation, whether I'm dating anyone. When I called one of them on it, he said that he was trying to live vicariously through me. I think really each of them just wonders what it would be like to be single again, even the ones who are happily married. About what it would be like to date again. And I'm happy to tell them that it sucks! My women married friends don't ask me. Or at least not as much.

Maybe I'll understand men if there's one in my life again for any length of time. But if they all follow Example #2, that's not going to happen.