"Hello, my name is ..."
I went to my town's "newcomers and neighbors" group tonight with a friend. I have never felt quite so out of place as a single, child-free woman.
I'm really glad I went with a friend.
About half the group's activities require a spouse (and although the language was gender-neutral, it seemed to be heavily implied that said spouse be of the male variety).
When we asked whether single people were welcome at the round-robin meals, there was a qualified "yes, but won't you feel weird among all the couples?"
Tonight's program presenter kept referring to "ladies" and "your husband." I very rarely find myself in gender-specific groups, so to be referred to as one of the "ladies" was very awkward. And I most certainly do not have a husband.
My friend and I are going to go to one of the "girls' night out" events to see how we like it.* I have very low expectations.
* It seems "go and see" is proper in British English, but "go to see" is proper in American English. Anyone who's lived in England want to help me out? My beta reader keeps changing my "go to"s to "go and"s.
I'm really glad I went with a friend.
About half the group's activities require a spouse (and although the language was gender-neutral, it seemed to be heavily implied that said spouse be of the male variety).
When we asked whether single people were welcome at the round-robin meals, there was a qualified "yes, but won't you feel weird among all the couples?"
Tonight's program presenter kept referring to "ladies" and "your husband." I very rarely find myself in gender-specific groups, so to be referred to as one of the "ladies" was very awkward. And I most certainly do not have a husband.
My friend and I are going to go to one of the "girls' night out" events to see how we like it.* I have very low expectations.
* It seems "go and see" is proper in British English, but "go to see" is proper in American English. Anyone who's lived in England want to help me out? My beta reader keeps changing my "go to"s to "go and"s.
3 Comments:
Yeah. Spoken or unspoken, the "hey, where's your spouse?" questions just suck. A lot.
When people ask where your husband is, you all should just say, "He's at home -- barefoot in the kitchen. Where else would he be?!?"
Briguy, you are freakin' brilliant.
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