Two birds with one stone.

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In my mind, a mule and a woman are synonymous.  Why?  I never could tell you exactly why, though some of it was based on stereotypes and some of it on personal experience with both.  I've had a great deal more experience with women than with mules, so my notion wasn't evenly logical.  All I am saying is... to me... the two have common traits.  We'll get to that next.  First up, however, is the notion of a mule as a trail riding animal.

Recently I was given an offer that I wanted to dig into before I made the call.  I know a man who has draft mares and a donkey.  The offer was to cross them.  A mule...  ???  Hmm.  I really have been thinking about that.  The mules I have crossed paths with have been, temperamental seeming, a bit cross-eyed about things, quite self-willed, and a little ornery to boot.  The one I rough rode, after it's breaking, a john (male, females are called jennies, as I have it now) albeit, was quite the beast to... get to know.  He reared back on me a number of times.  I simply rode him a little longer and harder than I would have otherwise, worked the kinks out mostly, which was my job.  Though, I admit, after a couple of weeks we did become friends, mostly.  He still would do things his way, unlike a horse, and I learned to give a little.  That was my first, though not last, of similar introductions.  Horses I dealt with quite a lot.  Back when, anyway.  They are different animals.

I've been doing research since.  And thinking about what I would be getting.  I would be getting a 1200 to 1400 pound critter that could handle me and a decent amount of gear as a rider or pack animal.  I had heard they do well on trails, even mountain trails.  The weakness in my department would be my experience, both with the animal and with trail conditions.  It is the rest of the the thing that was up in the air.

It turns out, at least from mule loving riders and haulers, that the mule is actually preferred to the horse.  Oh?  Really? Mules seem to have quite a good reputation as pack and riding animals. They aren't quite the stubborn weirdly eared horses I had come to think of them as. Now, when it comes right down to it, they aren't so much the fancy ride, say the Porsche of the riding animal world. But they will fool you. They are more like the armored up Humvees of that world. A horse has the race, on level ground, out to 150 miles. After that, or possibly on hard trails (from bogs to mountain trails) the mule takes over. I read that Wild Bill raced another famous man on a horse, quite some distance. While they came in even, the other gentleman's horse died over the next night. The mule was just fine.  Could just be lore though.

Still, I am not sure, and it does depend a bit on the animal.  And, older animals can carry weight better, as their bones don't fully develop until later.  No... I am giving this some serious thought.  It is not what I had in mind.  It is not fantasy.  But what it might turn out to be is good old common horse sense brought into play, if you will excuse the term for a moment.  Will I have to change that term to "mule sense"?  If I go that way, very likely.

Now, back to my comparison between women and mules?  I think with the latter understanding, and an honest assessment of women...  Yeah, okay, I'll bite.  I actually think I stumbled onto a truth.  Then Helen started up a thread, and I started thinking... about my last fiancee, mules, and... well...  That is when the notion really hit.  It threw me too, you know how a mule can be.  :p

Her idea was that companies are clamoring for female CEOs.  They want women in upper management and higher, and have for some number of years.  They believe this will give them a competitive edge among women, who even I understand to be the largest sector of shoppers in the nation.  Probably in any nation.  There are many problems with this contention.  Companies are finding out some of them, learning the hard way.  You can't make a mule into a horse.

Among my thoughts are that a woman, who has been hardened and developed into functional CEO material... just how much femininity is left?  Further, women don't, as a rule, choose to lead.  They may take the lead if pressed, but they don't like the lead from what I have seen.  There are many other such problems.  Me, personally, I think companies are being pushed by political correctness and government intrusion, perhaps to the point that they are after something without truly realizing why anymore.

As I suggested in her thread, I knew just such a woman.  No, not at CEO level, merely at a lower managerial level.  She wanted a larger income, she wanted the title, she just didn't feel she could, or should, do the work, after she had honestly assessed things.  And she, for pity's sake, was a feminist!  She, at one time, was my feminist.  And while I didn't approve, it was quite up to her.  I supported her in her doings as much as I could.  If you want it, I would say, then just f'ing get it done.  Or shut up about all of it.  Oh, yeah, I have a very gentle kindly way with words.  Well, she got there.  Then figured out how to backtrack to a basic worker.  Oh, she had the smarts.  No genius, just practical... mule sense... and some reasonable learning, education.  Her problem with being a manager is something akin to my attempts at home keeping... doubt... confusion... never knowing if that is... quite right, where this or that should go... and such.  Both of us are out of our league in some areas.

So, yeah, two birds with one stone.  That all might not mean a thing to you, but it means a whole lot to me.  Some things just make a bit more, a lot more really, sense.  And, I really have learned to respect the mule quite a bit more.  I've always respected a good woman, so nothing new there, if I will chide a woman who tries to be a man.  Plus, I see I should be careful.  Casting some stones, it seems, is conferring a blessing... if by a fool.  Oh, and yeah, I can still be quite foolish.  Then again I am not sure I would have it any other way, for now.  Learn a little or a lot, often.  If you don't it means you are dead or a stone cold idiot.  It seems I can still learn, too.

Good day.