Topics for research studies

So, one of these is funny, and one is serious.  The serious one includes more than some of you may want to know about female body systems.  Consider yourself warned.

Research Study #1: Average length of time a cute girl spends waiting for assistance at the mixed 6-pack shelf directly corresponds to whether or not she’s wearing a wedding ring.  Also, a quantitative study of customer service received based on the same conditions.

I know I posted something on Facebook around Labor Day about being flattered at the quick response and fantastic service I got while looking for good beer on the mixed 6-pack shelf at Trader Joe’s.  That afternoon the guy helping me went so far as to go digging around in the back room to find me several additional bottles of Bell’s Oberon. 

Well, it happened again a few weeks ago.  I was checking out what was on the shelf and someone came over almost immediately.  I asked him a quick question about a certain brew and he started making all kinds of suggestions, even breaking up complete 6-packs so I could try new beer.  

These experiences got me to thinking that, at least for the past few months, every time I’ve been digging around on that shelf someone comes over to see if I need help, and every time I’ve asked a question, it’s turned into a fun beer conversation.  This makes me want to find a ring that looks bridal and, for the purposes of experimentation, go to the liquor store and start timing how long it takes to get someone to come over to me when I’ve got it on vs. when I don’t have it on, as well as gauge the level of service I receive based on whether or not I’m wearing it. 

I mentioned this all to my sister-law-one day, and she pointed out that what really made the difference was the degree to which a woman was dolled up.  See, she’d had an experience at the Home Depot in which she found it odd that she had a hard time getting help while wearing painting clothes (i.e. obviously in need of and item or items for immediate use).  Then store associates were all busy helping women who were wearing slightly nicer clothes and makeup.  I pointed out that I popped in to a hardware store after one of my December concerts, which meant I was wearing a long black gown – I was asked whether or not I needed assistance by every single associate I walked by. 

All of this is food for thought.  Others with comments are welcome to chime in!

As a side note – something I was never really good at was flirting to get better service or more attention (I always thought I needed to take lessons from Karen).  Well, I think I’m figuring it out.  Just after Thanksgiving I lost one of the little rubber things from the hands free ear buds that plug into my phone, and learned that they don’t sell replacements – you have to buy a whole new ear bud set.  Not yet ready to break down and shell out the $30+ bucks, I thought I’d try one more place.  Score!  A little flirting with the guy at the Water Tower Place phone accessory kiosk got him to part with an extra little rubber thing from a headset he’d opened.  Woo-hoo!

Research Study #2: Correlation between seasonal affective issues and hormones. 

I wrote about how I was convinced that there is a link between the menstrual cycle (really cyclical hormonal shifts) and seasonal affective disorder a couple of winters ago (click here to read about it and here for the update).  Despite my doctor at the time telling me that there was no correlation, I’m even more convinced that there is. 

I think in my previous post I wrote about how the day before my period started I had a really hard time getting out of bed – it was as if I’d been hit by a truck I was so exhausted.  Trying to be proactive and get more rest for a couple of days before that tended to be futile because my cycle has always been so irregular, so it would end up that one day I’d wake up not able to get myself going, and figure it out by the next day.  Did I mention that my cramps for the first day of my period were also almost unbearable?  A heating pad + 4 Advil would start to help, but I’d still spend about the first day and a half zoning out and completely useless.

Last year I tried doing a couple of things, the first of which was adding protein to my diet.  I think that helped with my overall energy level, so it’s something I’ve continued.  Half a scoop of protein powder added to my oatmeal every morning is great. 

The second thing I did last year was to try to take birth control pills again for only the winter months.  My thought was that if my hormones were regulated, my body would return to a semi-normal state.  Taking pills really helped with the cramps, but had a very negative side effect in that the mix of pills didn’t work with me anymore (same prescription I had before I got my IUD) and I ended up spotting heavily for two weeks at a time.  Not fun.  I decided that I wasn’t going to mess with that again.

This year things are slightly different in that I my doctor discovered in November that I was slightly anemic.  This was not a problem in the spring or the summer because my iron count was high enough for me to be able to donate blood in both May and August.  In any case, I started taking an iron pill each day, and bam, I feel so much more normal.

Why am I all of a sudden anemic, though?  Well, something else I really honed in on this year, and I think this is probably the key to this whole issue, is that my cycles over the fall and winter have been much shorter than over the spring and summer months.  I’m talking an average of 24 day cycles since October, vs. 34 day cycles during the spring and summer.  No wonder I’m anemic! 

In any case, at this point, I’m convinced that the fact that my cycles are so much shorter over the winter must have something to do with the days being shorter and there being less sunlight.  Less sunlight, less energy, shorter menstrual cycles, I’m SURE they’re linked, and I really think someone actually needs to do a study on this.