This is a day in the life of Barry, the Helpful Misogynist.
Barry wakes up in his modest flat on the outskirts of Zone 2 in London and gets ready for work. He has a nutritious breakfast consisting of a bowl of oatmeal, an apple and a coffee. He puts on his suit and heads out the flat to go to the office.
It's rush hour on the underground and he manages to snag the last available seat on the train carriage. At the next stop, a a group of people get on, presumably also to get to work. Barry offers his seat to the most attractive woman in that group. She politely refuses but he insists. She says that really, it's fine but Barry doesn't let up, saying how tiring it must be to stand on high heels and refuses to sit back down until she takes his seat. She eventually relents and Barry feels good about himself for having done a good deed.
Barry gets to the bottom floor of his office building and strikes up a conversation with the receptionist. He tells her how he used to work that desk before he got promoted and starts giving her advice on how to stay organised behind her desk. She listens to his advice which he had already told her last week and the week before that. When he's finished, she thanks him and politely reminds him that she's been working the reception desk for 6 months now and she's got it pretty much figured out. He shrugs and reminds her you're never too experienced to get advice.
He gets in the elevator and holds the door open for someone who's running to catch the elevator before it closes. She thanks him as she gets in and she reaches out to press the 5th floor button on the elevator. He puts his own hand in the way, saying he can do it and asks which floor she wants to go to. She responds 5th floor and he obliges.
He gets out at the 4th floor and as he walks by the noticeboard, he sees that Carol has made the most sales this month. He congratulates her as he passes her by in the hallway and asks if she ended up using his advice on how to properly pitch to a potential customer. She says she hasn't and he suggest she try it. She points out that she's had the most sales this months and he counters by saying she could still have gotten even more if she used his advice. She silently nods and walks away and Barry sits at his desk for a hard day's work.
He goes to the cafeteria for lunch and sits with some of his coworkers to have his packed lunch. When he sees Carol approaching, he gets out of seat and pulls the chair next to him out for her. It was pretty clear that Carol had no intention of sitting at this table (not that Barry noticed) but she sits down in the chair to avoid any awkwardness. He congratulates her again on her sales for the month spends most of the meal telling her how much she's grown as a salesperson over the past few months and how impressed he is. She doesn't remind him she's been working here longer than he has. They go back to work after lunch and don't speak for the rest of the day.
It's Friday so Barry goes out with his co-workers and they go drinking at the local bar. He strikes up a conversation with another one of the women there and buys her a drink. Then he buys her another. Towards the end of the night he asks her number and she says she would rather not. Barry's been drinking and he's a little upset. She apologises but says she would rather not give out her number. He gets angrier. He asks her why she let him buy her drinks if she wasn't going to give him her number. She says that she offered to pay for the second round but he didn't let her. He tells her she wasted his whole evening and leaves the bar.
He gets home, browses for pornography, masturbates and passes out.
Comments