Wide Body Trap? Or, just a trap.

For several years now, every so often, when walking down our hallway my pants have cought on the knobs on the front of this cabinet. I would complain that the cabinet is a trap and catches on my pants all the time and Mary Lynn would declare that "I don't know how in the world you do that, I never do." For a long time, I thought it was just me. Then, a while back, maybe Christmas, Mark Wagner was walking down the hallway and it caught him the same way. Boy, was I glad! It wasn't just me! Then, yesterday, Jit was walking down the hallway, and it caught him! It IS a trap! But just for men. Now why?

First of all, how does it happen? Well, as you can see by the picture, the steps stick out just a bit. When walking down the hallway, arms at your side, you tend to move away from the steps to keep from hitting your arms on them, etc., which automatically moves you towards the cabinet. Now, usually, the hallway is a little shadowy, and the dark knobs do not stand out visually. So, you brush against the cabinet. Presto! The knobs grab the back of the pants pocket and you're caught! Why just men? No, not because they're wider. Men normally wear looser clothes around the hips than women. Women's pockets, if they have them in their clothes, are made differently, cut at a more parallel line to the floor, and, women are usually shorter, so that the pocket falls below the cabinet knobs.

Now, this has been a very scientific study. Don't think I just made it up.

So now, all of you loyal blog readers, know why men snag their pants on the cabinet knobs in our hallway.