Working in the Health Insurance Industry

By Thomas Morris Jr.

Most men go to work, say hi to the few females in the office and sit down to talk about the hockey or basketball game that was on last night.

I miss that! I sit down in my office after saying hi to one or two guys and listen to the little dog that was dressed up cute or the clothes the girls are wearing and where they got them. HELP!

Seriously, Men are from Mars and Women are from any planet that has a sale on clothes. For example, last night I watched the Buffalo Sabres tear apart yet another opponent 7-2. With seven goals scored in one period, which is amazing. I came into work to talk about the game and … I hear, "that's a nice shirt," and "where did you get that jacket?"

Don't get me wrong, I am a man and it's nice to work around women. But the conversations are very lacking when it comes to anything to do with sports or talking about women, which are two things that men do most often. Believe it or not women talk about what their husband's do wrong, how they are always right and clothes.

I guess in my profession it makes sense to have women, whom generally like to talk on the phone and with their friends, be call center representatives. But where have all the sports fanatics gone? That's not to say females don't talk about sports, but they don't pay attention to whom scored, how many goals were tallied, and how well each player played. Women pay attention to who's the cutest guy and how many scores or extra points (we live in a football society) they acquired.

Which brings up a point, women watch sports for the cutest guy or how he looks in his uniform and men don't get mad. But when men watch fashion shows for the hottest girl and how she looks in her Victoria's Secret underwear, there will be a bruising. Yet another sign of Men are from Mars and Women are from any planet that has a sale on clothes.

So to get all my sports talk out … The Buffalo Sabres scored seven goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning last night and Coach John Tortorella, didn't pull the goalie, Marc Denis. I remembered back to when Coach Mario Tremblay left Patrick Roy in goal for a 12-1 loss to Detroit in 1995 for the Montreal Canadiens, subsequently his last game for the Habs. Could this cause a problem with Mr. Denis and the Lightning?

When I was watching the game it was like the Sabres were playing on the Pro level of any NHL video game, didn't like to be losing and so set the game on a rookie setting for the second period. Once all the goals were tallied and morale was down for Tampa Bay, Buffalo again returned to the Pro setting allowing one goal and being unable to find the net.

In today's National Hockey League, when was the last time you saw a team destroy it's opponent and not get a single point from it's top forward line? That happened for the very deep Sabres, whose top line consists of fan favorite's Jochen Hecht, Daniel Briere and Jason Pominville.

The Lightning on the other hand had to count on their top line to get just two goals, both by Tampa Bay's leading scorer Martin St. Louis. That's the kind of great fact that only guys would talk about. When I did get to talk about hockey a female colleague of mine said, " Yeah that young guy Danny Pi-something, he scored two goals," I was so impressed, but then she added, "He's so Hot!"

Well I am sure Daniel Paille is very happy to know he's Hot and I am happy to know I get to talk about some hockey, even if I have to fill in the blanks. By the way to prove that Men are from Mars and Women are from any planet that has a sale on clothes. My colleague, who is making an attempt at understanding sports, said she was happy the Sabres beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers! (again, we live in a football society).

So, the next time you guys walk into your office appreciate what you have, as I try to do the same. You have a few women and all the sports talk you can handle, I have my sports thoughts and … well I guess that's obvious, all the clothes talk I can handle.