why do women dither?

My hands are raised! I dither . I have to make a special effort to ensure I have everything to hand and my purse ready. I then find I'm faffing about trying to get my card/change/receipt back in my purse and then into my bag without dropping something. I've always been a bit of a ditherer.

I am very quick in choosing a pub meal. But dither over which cake/shortbread in a tearoom. DH just says, "Oh, I'll have what you have" and then is very obvious with the disappointment when my choice doesn't measure up.

I don't dither but my friend does. She's that stereotypical shopper who goes back to the first thing she likes after trailing round for a couple of hours. In restaurants, the waitress will return again and again, after being told to come back in five minutes to find she has still not decided what she wants. But, the biggest ditherer was my uncle, who I went with to choose a new carpet. After four hours, looking at the same three carpets, the store was closing and he announced that we could 'go back tomorrow when we've got a bit more time!' No, we could not!

A very close relative of mine would take every prize for indecision. I dread shopping with her, so it's probably just as well that she lives 12000 miles away. I'm one for a quick decision though this has sometimes resulted in serious fashion gaffes!

I am not normally a ditherer, except once a month when I meet a friend for coffee and cake. She knows immediately which cake she is going to have whereas I am looking at them all trying to decide whether to have one, which I know I like, or try something new, but as this is the only cake I have in a month I do like to try to make sure I get it right!

I used to get really frustrated in M & S food at lunchtime. There was a row of cashiers especially for people with only a few items and always a long queue. I would find myself calling out to the person who had been waiting at the front but didn't see a cashier become available and also the others who hadn't got the money ready to pay for their one sandwich.

Same in large post offices, they stand in the queue and seem to go to sleep when they get to the front.

Just as many male ditherers as female!

Procrastination perhaps an extreme form of dithering is an 'art form' of both men and women. The worst I have come across was male closely followed by a woman. Both lovely people but they made me pull my hair out. They seem to know its a problem but seem equally unable to do anything about it. More procrastination!,

Well, it's not me!. I'm the opposite.
I'm trying to get my debit card and loyalty cards out whilst wrestling with putting stuff on the conveyor, and then whipping it into bags whilst putting pin numbers in the machine.
I think I could get a job in a circus!

A character personified by Maggie Ollerenshaw, in Open All Hours, as "Wavy Mavis"...

I know this person Maisie as I was behind her at a supermarket checkout. She was obviously surprised that she'd have to pay for her goods as when the total was announced only then did she start to dig into her bag in search of her purse, etc. which of course took ages to locate.

Then it must have been her at the traffic lights on my way home too. Sitting there watching them change to green and only just managing to find first gear and move off before they changed back again.

I feel sorry for people who can't make their minds up and dither, they irritate me too.

I was out shopping with my DiL and I saw a cardigan I liked. I went straight into the shop tried it on and bought it - 5 minutes flat. She was flabbergasted.

I once worked in a big car company office for a couple of months. One of the world's top brands. I was involved in a big recruitment campaign which was stop/go/stop/go as the board of directors (all men) dithered about the internal politics of this recruitment. They'd make a decision, pay for a national advertising campaign, then it would get re-discussed and the decision reversed etc etc I was astounded at the level of top level dithering.

I agree with MiceElf and have also seen a fair few male ditherers; they put their shopping through at superarkets and seem to have forgotten they have to actually pay for it. I've been behind men in M&S cafes who've obviously been in a daydream as the counter assistant has to raise her voice and ask a second time 'what would you like dear'.

As is usual, both sexes have the same faults - one just gets talked about more than the other

Being charitable it could be that she couldn't see the display, or that had forgotten her specs and couldn't see the menu, or that was in the early stages of Alzheimer's, or that she had been earwigging on your fascinating conversation, or that the tea lady was the only person she had spoken to in a week and she wanted to prolong the encounter.

I've met a fair few chaps who dither too though.

Or even grinding