We were invited to the local school parents and teachers social this evening, held at our local pub (within walking distance!). Apparently W set about organising babysitters a couple of weeks ago - which was mentioned to me, but I have no recollection of.
Apart from being prodded by a certain Mum and accused of ignoring her en-route to school the other morning (apparently she remembered me from our fleeting introductions in the past far more than I remembered her), I spent most of the evening talking to the chairman of the board of governors.
My conversation turned heads somewhat because I had been extolling earlier in the evening my distaste for the chattering classes - and this guy fell squarely into that territory. Ex city manager, worked in sales, now presiding over the management of a school in his retirement.
Word to the wise - if you take the time to talk to these people you find out they hate the job they have found themselves with, can’t wait to get out of it, and love the fact that somebody finally listened to them.
The fact that I discovered that if you let him talk long enough he ran out of breath and nearly keeled over is besides the point.
So - as the evening wore on, I found myself talking to a number of the school Mums. I knew I would be among the minority this evening, but hadn’t anticipated that all the other men present would gather together in their own little group.
Think about it (from a male perspective) - given a room full of women who have all made an effort to get out for the evening - and this is a rare opportunity - who would you rather spend your evening with? The token few men, or the group of women ?
I chose the women.