Last night I was at a concert at Webster Hall in New York City. It was a last-minute thing; one of my good friends won the tickets from her cell phone. As I was standing with her, waiting for the show to start, I couldn’t help but notice that nearly every couple in the place looked like this: girl wearing a little tank top, guy standing next to her holding her coat/umbrella/other assorted stuff.
I have always known that men in general hold things for their significant other. It makes them feel manly. It is chivalrous. It’s what they are told they are ‘supposed’ to do. I’ve never felt any special emotion about this socially accepted behavior. Until last night. As I looked around me at all the guys holding jackets and bags, all I could think to myself was: sometimes guys really do get a raw deal.
This is not something you’d typically hear me say, because women can make the same claim. We have to give birth to children if we want the species to propagate. We have a mess of crap to deal with once a month. We have to wear heels. I could keep going, but I am sure everyone gets my point. But you are not too likely to ever see a woman holding a man’s coat while standing in a crowded room for 3 hours waiting to hear an artist she probably doesn’t really want to hear in the first place.
Just as I was starting to feel really sorry for men, a rather drunk one came up to me. Keith Urban was singing a slow song, Tonight I Want to Cry. The drunk guy starts trying to get my attention – by bending down low and singing the song to me along with Mr. Urban. Eeew. I proceeded to pointedly ignore him, which only served to make him try harder until his friends joined him and he became distracted (he was, after all, drunk). It’s been a while since I’ve been at a bar or club and not in the company of a man, so I was a bit taken aback at first that this guy would be so persistent. Especially since I was feeling so much sympathy towards men at that moment. I had forgotten how irritating inebriated members of the male gender can be.
I no longer feel particularly bad for men.
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