Man to Man

It's my considered opinion that all gentlemen should have a little blokiness in their lives. I'm lucky in the fact that I have a handful of male friends with whom I can have drink, play music and go and see the latest 'all action' blockbuster at the cinema. The kind of films most women wouldn't be interested in. Girls are all very well but it's just not the same.

It's hard to define what this blokiness actually is. It's not just talking sport for example. I work with women who can talk football and rugby all day but that would bore me silly. It's not about butchness or machismo either; some of those women are rougher and hairier than I am. I went out with a male friend the other day and when we weren't talking about music, we were talking about fixing and mending things; about history, science and bloke type interests. We were sharing a mutual view of the world that is of no interest to most women. I don't remember mentioning children, fluffy animals or shopping once.  I'm sure ladies have their equivalents with their 'girly chats'.

Dearly Beloved's sister and her husband go fishing together; (hello Carl and Maxine). To be fair Carl does all the fishing and Maxine does a lot of reading. Fishing is possibly the last bastion of male dominated pastimes. If you go down the local canal on a Sunday how many women do you see fishing? That's right, none. Perhaps it's something to do with the maggots. I tried fishing in my youth and discovered it was not for me but I can understand the attraction of sitting quietly on a riverbank all day, communing with nature and watching the wildlife with no distractions. Fishermen don't really talk to each other except to politely enquire about the size of their catch. Blokes can sit there all day quietly bonding and sharing the experience with almost no conversation and then retreat to the pub in the evening for a quiet pint and discuss how nothing actually happened. You wouldn't catch a woman doing that.


As time passes people get caught up with their children, work and relatives while friends tend to fall by the wayside which is a shame. I'm pleased to say that Dearly Beloved is my best friend and we share most things together, we have a laugh and she's a pleasure to be with. However, there are things which I can share with my male friends which she's just not interested in. It's because she's not a bloke and, quite frankly, I'm pleased about that.