The End Is Near

In recent years there has been a lot of talk about the “wussification” of the American male. Frankly, I haven’t thought much about it because I don’t want to think much about it. When I do think about it, I have to admit that we guys aren’t what we used to be. Some of that is probably a good thing. It’s okay to express your feelings. If guys want to dress better and pay more attention to their appearance that doesn’t necessarily make them “soft”. And if a man wants to stay home and raise the kids while the wife goes off to work, good for him. Gary Cooper, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood are ancient history.

But, now we have Dude Wipes. I had no clue about Dude Wipes until this week when my wife, with a straight face, announced that she had received an email coupon for Dude Wipes and inquired as to if I might want to give them a try. I had been talking about the need to replace the windshield wipers on my pick-up, so I thought she was referring to some newfangled windshield wiper. Then she showed me the email. It became immediately clear that Dude Wipes are not designed to wipe a Dude’s windshield.

As it turns out, Dude Wipes have been on the market for a couple of years and even got money on Shark Tank. I seldom watch Shark Tank, so I missed it there. I haven’t been shopping for wipes of any sort and have been perfectly happy with the toilet paper we buy in bulk at Sam’s. So Dude Wipes have not been on my radar. And apparently none of my web-surfing activities identified me as a target for a Dude Wipes e-coupon or other marketing messages . (Which I find quite encouraging but it does make me wonder what my wife has been Googling lately.)

Bottom-line (pun intended) is that Dude Wipes are probably a good idea and a product whose time has come, at least for some people. My wife has younger women friends who tell her that they don’t even use the same bathroom as their husbands. So I’m guessing that when it comes time to do the laundry their husband’s underwear are untouchables. If a dude wants the wife to wash those tighty-whities, I guess he better keep them as white as possible. And if an old dude’s wife ask him if he might want to give Dude Wipes a try, maybe she’s trying to tell him something.