@roamer_1
I don't know about that. A couple of years ago I was in the grocery store, and a man, navigating his shopping cart between mine and that of the woman on the opposite side of the aisle, excused himself and wished us a good afternoon. The woman looked after him and yelled (and I do mean yelled), "Who cares! You're just a man anyway. No one wants to hear from you." I almost fell out. She looked at me and laughed as though she expected I'd get the joke, or whatever it was.
@mirraflake I was about 25 miles west of town, and saw a woman standing by her broken down car. As is customary here, I pulled off to see if I could lend a hand. The ENTIRE time, while I am cheerfully changing her tire for her, she never stopped insulting me...
For some reason, she had to make sure I knew that she was so much better than me, and that I am nothing more than a dirty, stupid redneck with a dirty, crappy truck - nothing near the cultured people of the city, and that I should be embarrassed of myself as a man. She made it perfectly clear that she didn't need me for anything, and that I was lucky to even be in her presence... And she assured me with all certitude that she didn't need my help at all, and that she was a strong woman.
Of course, she was talking out her butt the whole dang time - She was helpless, hopeless, and wholly unprepared. And she hadn't a clue how to change a tire. When I got it done, she told me in a way that it was 'about time', got in her car, and off she went, without as much as a thank you.
Now, put that in contrast with a country gal I helped out:
Same sort of circumstance, except it was night, and late fall... The woman's car had an electrical fire under the dash, and I came up on it as it was happening... I got the fire out, but the car was uninhabitable from the smoke, and wasn't going to run, no how... I got her and her kids calmed down... stuffed them in my truck where it was warm, broke out some blankets...
I got on the CB (cell doesn't work very well in the mountains) and got a guy to land-line her husband... By this nebulous means, I informed him of her plight, and him being in a spot where he couldn't afford a tow-truck, we figured out that he would go get my son to fetch my trailer and the two of them would head on up. We stayed in contact till it was sure, and then it was all about waiting.
I stayed out in the cold rain for an hour and better (not enough room in the truck). That girl felt SO bad that I was out in the rain while she and her kids were warm and dry in the cab of my truck. She came out several times to help me bear it (which I really didn't need, as I had donned my winter gear and a slicker from out of my saw-box) staying out in it with me to cheer me up till I insisted she get back in the heat.
My boy showed up with her old man and the trailer. After that, it was short work with the three of us winching the car up and getting it tied down. My boy hauled them home, with me following with those that didn't fit in his truck. Of course, after a cup of hot coffee, the old man offered to pay, and of course we turned it down, as such things are considered 'paying it forward', and we went on home, with their many thanks ringing in our ears...
A few days later, there was a knock on my door, and there they are. The woman was so very appreciative, and thanked me for my service with a glorious home-made apple pie, a beautiful hand written note, and her old man threw in a quart of applejack (maybe y'all call it 'apple pie'). And my son got the very same. And while not entirely due to that incident (we got to know that family some) we were invited to a do they throw at the end of the next summer, and many summers thereafter..
That woman right there - and her folks - she's the salt-of-the-earth. And the comparison between the two should be readily evident. But as I said upthread, it is for the latter that I put up with the former. And while I know nothing of the menfolk of the former, I am absolutely certain the old man of the latter is much like me, and will always stop and do his level best to help folks out, and especially women in need.