Authors: Pam Farrel / Bill Farrel
Format: Audible
Subject: Relationships
Rating: 5/10
Summary:
One morning last fall, I was having a casual conversation with a coworker about a remodeling project my wife and I were planning. “I drive my poor wife crazy,” I said. We will be discussing the project and next thing I know she is rambling off a seemingly never-ending list of ideas, questions, and concerns. My response, “Whoa, one thing at a time!” That is when my coworker laughed, and jokingly told me that I was a waffle. She told me about a book she had read with her husband as part of their small group at church. I was immediately intrigued. In fact, I downloaded the book and began listening to it that day on my way to lunch.
The title of the book aptly defines its thesis that men process thoughts and emotions very differently than women. Men tend to compartmentalize thoughts and emotions and subsequently deal with them one at a time. The author relates these compartments to the individual squares you see on a waffle. On the other hand, women tend to approach thoughts an emotions as part of a grand picture where everything is interconnected with everything else. Hence the term spaghetti. When you combine the two concepts, you wind up with spaghetti and waffles.
What I liked Most About the Book: The title says it all. Having a better understanding of how men and women process thoughts and emotions differently pays some hefty dividends. The concept helps me communicate better with my wife, friends, and coworkers.
What I liked Least About the Book: The author took an exceptional lesson and stretched it way to far. This book could have easily been about a quarter of the length. After the author teach the title-lesson, they spend the rest of the book desperately trying to project other aspects of their individual personalities and marriage onto the audience.
Memorable Quotes:
- A man will strategically organize his life in boxes and then spend most of his time in the boxes he can succeed in.
- The bottom line with men is: they feel best about themselves when they are solving problems. Therefore, they spend most of their time doing what they are best at while they attempt to ignore the things which cause them to feel deficient.