Sunday, May 22, 2011

The Great Divide

It's an age old practice in countries across the globe.
You marry someone so that you never have to talk to them in social situations. ever. again.


I recall my parents and their friends doing it.
'It' being same sex socialising.
I've seen barbeques where there could well be a gender line down the middle of the backyard.
(With the bbq clearly being on the men's side and any people below 130cm being on the women's end of things.)
It occurs at pubs, restaurants, parties  - and now in our social circle apparently.


On the weekend, Hubby and I had a beautiful time celebrating a friend's birthday with a dinner out. We had a gorgeous meal, plenty of bubbles (that would be mainly me) with lots of great company... but almost separately.

By the time we had found a park and entered the restaurant, 6 or 7 of the men in our group had seated themselves and 6 or 7 of the women had also seated themselves - at separate tables from one another.
Hubby and I didn't have much choice but to follow suit.
There was to be no mingling, no stuffing up the wait staff with seat swapping and no face to face interaction between male & female.
Luckily, Hubby and I were seated almost back to back so could sneak in a little hand holding, food sharing and taking digs at one another.

(I much prefer to make fun of my man when he's in earshot and much prefer he make fun of me when I can refute the bold faced lies!)

Maybe I'm coming from my place of having spent precious little time with my husband in recent months, but if we go to the trouble (and expense) of organising a babysitter, getting ourselves all dressed up (or at least showered) and leave the house together, I'm hoping to spend a little down time with my husband and our friends outside the confines of mi casa.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to crash the boy's night and I love me a girls' dinner or twenty. I'm well aware that the blokes don't necessarily want to be party to discussions of top sheet vs no top sheet, new teacher vs old teacher or sparkling vs still (as in alcohol).
I don't necessarily want to be privy to many of their earth shattering debates either.

But, I find this division of the sexes a bit puzzling.
How about you?
Do you and 'yours' split on arrival or stick like glue til death do you part?

Shar :-)

3 comments:

Rebekah said...

It's funny you posted this, as I was discussing this very thing with my bestie the other night. It happens all the time doesn't it. We even had a situation one night when we went out for dinner and there would have been at least 8/9 couples and all the men sat at one end and all the women sat at the other end of the table. Know one wanted to sit with their partners. It was comical.

G said...

I'm definitely one for mixing it up. When we see Mr SJW's school mates and their wives in a big group they always split, girls in the kitchen doing salads and boys around the barbie with beers. I think the boys always have a better time! gxo

All For Love said...

This definitely happens to hubby and I almost every time we go to something. It has always been this way. When we were younger, it would be because I LOVE dancing and he LOVES drinking. So he would hang with the blokes drinking and I'd be off dancing the night away with the dancers of the group.
I'm sure it's got to do with some sort of primal instinct or something. Men in their corner, women in theirs!