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Original poster

Husband going into hyperdrive when workmen are around.

130 replies

DidgeDoolittle · 02/12/2021 12:06

Does anyone else's husband do this?

My husband has worked in an office all his life. He's average at diy but we do need to get workmen in occasionally.
When a workman is imminent he goes into headless chicken, hyper drive mode. He's up at the crack of dawn making sure everything is out of the way and perfect for said workman. He couldn't possibly be caught still in his pjs. The disgrace.
When man arrives, husband goes up a gear. There's lots of " yeah mate, yeah mate, I'm sure you'll be using your blah blah blah on that". It's like he's a different person, eager to impress the manly man that has entered his domain. My kids ( now adults) take the piss something terrible. He gets very bad tempered.

He's just refused to help me unload a massive supermarket shop as he's 'assisting' ( distracting) a neighbour with manly garden things. This is top priority and cannot be interfered with in any way.

Anyone else have a partner that does this?

OP posts:

RavingAnnie · 02/12/2021 20:43

@Anythingbutsnow

I used to be an engineer visiting people's holes and I found most men to be exactly like this! To be honest I'm abit like it myself aswell.

How big are their holes, that they need an engineer?!?

getsanta · 02/12/2021 20:47

definitely identify with this OP.

Holidaytan · 02/12/2021 20:49

My DH can sometimes go in the complete opposite direction.
We had an automatic garage door fitted and he was discussing the height of the doorframe with the fitter.
I guess he couldn’t think of anything to say. As he walked under it, (he’s quite tall) he realised it almost touched the top of his head and said in the daftest way ‘ooooh, it gives you a little hair brush’ and then laughed.

He’s so unbothered about seeming ‘manly’ it’s adorable.
I do take the piss mercilessly though!

ChristmasKrackers · 02/12/2021 21:10

Absolutely love this thread! My OH is a very manly man and is brilliant at DIY. As the years have gotten on a bit though he is a lot slower and doesn’t do much around the house anymore, last few years I’ve put to him we should get a guy in to do it then- his face! I’ll never forget it- such a picture! I might as well have said to him I’m going to sleep with the milk man! 😂😂😂

He refuses to have any DIY men come in and do anything, even if he doesn’t want to do it- it’s like a weird territory thing and it makes me laugh as his normally such a laid back easy going guy! His face though, I can still picture it 😂😂😂

Original poster

DidgeDoolittle · 02/12/2021 21:29

I'm so glad it's not just my husband. It seems an excess of faux diy expert inhabits them all.

OP posts:

Bluntness100 · 02/12/2021 21:32

Mines the opposite and it really annoys me, he won’t book a workmen and disappears when they are in the house. He doesn’t want involved at all. If something needs doing he whinges until I book it. He doesn’t even want to meet them. He fucks off right out of it till the work is done.

GrumpyLivesInMyHouseNow · 02/12/2021 21:46

@Flockameanie Not quite, but DH has a 'special voice' he uses only with tradesmen and taxi drivers. It's a bit 'awight mate'. He's always done it and I've always mercilessly taken the piss out of him for it

Oh my god! Are we married to the same person mine does exactly that... I never EVER hear him say 'mate' until a 'man doing his trade' speaks to him. Even the Amazon delivery driver gets a 'cheers mate' when he drops a parcel off.. if we travel down south it gets an almost cockney twang to it (my dh is from Lincolnshire)

VodselForDinner · 02/12/2021 21:53

“ooooh, it gives you a little hair brush” has me creased

GalaPie · 02/12/2021 21:57

I remember being absolutely astounded when my dh greeted a (male) colleague with one of those modern weirdy upside-down-ending-with-a-sort-of-twisty-shoulder-bump handshakes. (I ain't talking masons, more Hey Dude, how's it hanging)
I do realise that his rather manly career involves a bit of hippy cool culture but I didn't realise dh actually partook of it.
This is a man who delights in Masterchef (which is what's occupying him now), loves an Andre Rieu concert and has The Everley Brothers on his iTunes.
When it comes to tradesmen in the house, he follows me and the tradesman meekly as I give instructions. I think all his Alpha is taken up by the weirdy armshakes. I wonder how they actually learn to do those things. I asked him once but he just laughed.

endlesswinter · 02/12/2021 22:03

DH has no interest in DIY stuff and doesn't pretend he does.
But he does develop a distinctly different London accent to the one his usually has when with tradesmen and taxi drivers.
This is particularly odd as we are now in the USA and they don't understand any of these vocal differences. ( neither do they want hot tea)

LindaLooky · 02/12/2021 22:16

Haha yes I've observed this behaviour.

I suspect I go into an "affable tea maker" role

RosiePosieDozy · 02/12/2021 22:20

I don't really 'get' the having to be out of pyjamas and preparing the house for the workman? Surely everyone does that?

I can't relate tbh my DP and I prep the house for a workman and move things out of the room. He is good at talking to people, he's just his self really when there's a workman there.

MysweetAudrina · 02/12/2021 22:23

Another one here who uses awight mate, which is extra bizarre as we are Irish living in Dublin.

Original poster

DidgeDoolittle · 02/12/2021 22:27

@RosiePosieDozy

I don't really 'get' the having to be out of pyjamas and preparing the house for the workman? Surely everyone does that?

I can't relate tbh my DP and I prep the house for a workman and move things out of the room. He is good at talking to people, he's just his self really when there's a workman there.

I know that everyone gets the stuff out of the way, but dh does it with a particular frantic zeal displayed in no other area of his life. When the alpha male workman steps into perfectly prepared room, dh tells him in great detail what he has done in anticipation of his visit. It's like he's waiting for a gold star or something.

OP posts:

TheDogsMother · 02/12/2021 22:40

I love this thread . DH is great at DIY but when we need to get someone specialist to do stuff he stands around giving it that awright mate geezer speak. I've no idea why because they don't speak that way.

Flockameanie · 02/12/2021 22:46

@SmallBoyFury

My lovely husband isn’t the alpha type, but he does this too.

We’ve recently moved house so have had a lot of tradesmen in so it’s getting quite annoying.

And he does the voice. For some reason, the same voice is also used when ordering at a McDonald’s drive-through. It drives me nuts.

Mine isn’t alpha male type at all either. The whole thing is so out of character. I think it must touch something very deep in them all! @Fluffycloudland77 - that Mash article made me cry with laughter.

StrongSunglasses · 02/12/2021 22:51

@Stiffcondomhat

My dad was like this, always addressed tradesmen as "chief" or "squire". Highly amusing.2

I have a friend who deploys “chief” and “squire” 😂

StrongSunglasses · 02/12/2021 22:57

And “soldge”

Mother87 · 02/12/2021 23:02

My DDad used to hover/follow workmen around/examine everything... He was amazing @ DIY and sorting stuff around my/mum's house until well into his late 80's but eventually let younger men take over the big jobs. He was also Chinese & an amazing cook (his profession was engineering) He used to be incredibly grumpy about workmen coming at all, but if they were chatty & respectful to him, and listened to his 'advice' he'd end up cooking beautiful food for them every dayand they'd just bin their sandwiches. (To be fair - he used to show them some really useful tricks/methods with household stuff that they'd never seen) If they were on the job for a while, it'd get to the stage where he was asking them what they'd like to eat the next the next day God how I miss him & his food - and all the jobs being done around the house as soon as they were needed. Takes me/DH months to get round to doing these things

Hotelhelp · 02/12/2021 23:09

Sniggering so much at the PP visiting peoples holes.

My DH seems to go the opposite way and almost lies belly up like a submissive dog when they’re a workman here! He has this need to bow down to this other man and constantly tells them how DIY isn’t his thing. It’s really strange.

I can’t even listen to my husband order food at the drive through it makes me cringe so much.

TheDogsMother · 02/12/2021 23:09

@Mother87

and they'd just bin their sandwiches. (To be fair - he used to show them some really useful tricks/methods with household stuff that they'd never seen) If they were on the job for a while, it'd get to the stage where he was asking them what they'd like to eat the next the next day

God how I miss him & his food - and all the jobs being done around the house as soon as they were needed. Takes me/DH months to get round to doing these things

This is so lovely

fedup65356 · 02/12/2021 23:26

Glad it isn't just my DH!

And @Mother87 how lovely.

VodselForDinner · 02/12/2021 23:27

@Mother87, he sounds wonderful. No wonder you miss him.

Mother87 · 02/12/2021 23:31

Thank You

IncessantNameChanger · 02/12/2021 23:36

Dh is a trades man so he stays out of the way when other trades come in. It's like lion coming in and peeing in your patch I think

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