As if men needed another source of anxiety. Now, according to the New York Times, I can't hang out with a buddy, outside of a strip bar or a ball-game, unless I want to be accused of going on a
"man date."
Simply defined a man date is two heterosexual men socializing without the crutch of business or sports. It is two guys meeting for the kind of outing a straight man might reasonably arrange with a woman. Dining together across a table without the aid of a television is a man date; eating at a bar is not. Taking a walk in the park together is a man date; going for a jog is not. Attending the movie "Friday Night Lights" is a man date, but going to see the Jets play is definitely not.
"Man date?" Who comes up with this stuff? Is it the same way that dance crazes get started, or the way, for no apparent reason, big-knotted neckties are back in fashion?
So, let's say my friend from out of town is in town for the afternoon and he gives me a call at work and there's a Subway shop near my office and I meet him there for a six-inch (ooh!) turkey and bacon with swiss on honey-oat. Toasted. And, let's say that I want the Meal Deal, not just the sandwich, so I get a Diet Coke and bag of chips. There's no TV set, and we have to sit across from each other at one of those little two-seaters they have in those places. Is that a man date? Or, can it just be lunch?
Or! What if a guy I go to church with invites me to breakfast at Shoney's (not some prissy restaurant that serves brunch) on, say, a Saturday morning when both of our wives and kids are out doing some sort of thing that women and children do on Saturdays. See, we're both married and we both have kids, so we should be able to hang out without being on a date, right? What if I get the eggs, bacon and hash browns but he only gets fruit? Is it a date if we don't both eat "man food?" What if we both have fruit (shudder)? What if we read the bible during breakfast, though? Is it a man date if there's no TV involved, but there is the word of God?
"Man date." Didn't that used to be called "friendship?"