The thing you mention about the salesman we ran into buying my dream car but in person on one lot. I ask question, salesman addresses answer to hubby.
A friend of mine (male) quilts and he is almost always ignored when in a fabric shop. Sales ladies talk to his wife who wouldn't know a cotton from a wool. They both laugh about it.
Most of the time I let stuff roll off because few 50-something women with grey hair are boaters. And as a soloist? Not many of us are out here...
Though I don't meet the norms I am old enough to realize that most salesmen are going to focus on the percentages -- and I'm not regarded as a potential buyer.
#1) I'm wearing a dress.
#2) A dog is in my purse.
Seriously, would most salespeople in West Marine think I knew a block with a becket from one without?
What makes me sad though is when spouses do not listen. And yes, I mean really listen and hear what the partner is saying.
A while back I met a couple. They'd lost their trawler in Hurricane Ivan and had been shopping for a new one. He bought the boat of is dreams. She'd said "no, not that boat" but he knew she'd learn to love it.
Well, she didn't. And wouldn't EVER like that boat. Why? Because she was a cook and a baker. It was her pleasure in life. In order to open the oven she had to step out into the companionway. Every meal had to be hauled up three steps to the salon, out the side door and up two more to the aft deck where they dined.
It was a lousy set up. In the galley she could not look out the window and see anything but the side deck and it was enclosed. There was no way possible to improve /fix what was wrong and less than a year later she was in a condo and the boat was for sale.
Had the fellow heard her words ("not that one") he'd have not bought that particular boat. I do believe they'd have had years aboard instead of an aborted, expensive test run that was destined to fail.
If you like a fly bridge you'll hate my boat. I want a galley up, and there are those who prefer down. That's why there are so many boats built, but hearing (really hearing/listening) would avoid some of the failures.
Partners, real ones, need to lighten up and give it a go. And I have seen reluctant spouses turn into enthusiastic cruisers -- the inverse is true too. I've seen enthusiasm die in the face of Captain Bligh as often as Evil Screeching Woman destroy dreams.
The volatile couples don't seem to last long.
As a girl, I do want a nest and chose a boat that allows me to nest. There is a level of decadence I won't do without. Seaweed isn't perfect, but she's getting closer.
I'm rambling, and will stop now.