So, What's Wrong With a Man-Date Anyway?

As if it wasn't bad enough that I was on a man-date--we went to see a chick flick!

I have realized two important things about writing this blog that I had not previously considered: 1) I am a fiercely private person and 2) I don't go to the movies. Talk about thinking things through--so what the hell am I going to write about? I haven't been to the movies in about a year, excluding the kid movies that I'm obligated to see with my daughter. Don't get me wrong, I love going to the movies with my daughter and I certainly don't want her to end up dating some "jerkwad" because Daddy didn't take her to the latest Pixar plot to empty my pocket. But there's no way in hell I would go to see Alvin & the Chipmunks of my own free will; it would be weird and creepy, like the lone male adult who sat in the back row while my daughter and enjoyed that movie. I kept looking over my shoulder and wondering what the hell was a grown man doing alone in a theater watching a kid's movie... freak. So the good thing about this blog is that I have to go and see movies, the bad thing is that I have to talk about them as they pertain to my life. So this past weekend I went to the movies.

My wife and kids went out of town and so figured I would take the time to chill out in NYC and do some things with my best friend Carlos. I always do things with Carlos, so much so that my wife jokingly calls him my girlfriend (she's just jealous). I told him about my blog and he suggested that we go take in a film. So we grabbed a great meal at Market Table, a great restaurant in NOHO, if you ever have the chance to go you should and definitely try the bacon wrapped scallops, they were like a little piece of seafood heaven floating on my tongue. As we looked through the paper to find a film, I suggested we check out Smart People because it starred one of my favorite actors, Thomas Hayden Church. As we left dinner and walked through the West Village to the theater it dawned on me: dinner, drinks, and a movie with my best bud... I'm on a man-date. For those of you who may not know, a man-date is when two buddies go out on the town the way they would with their wife or girlfriend. Unlike a guy's night out, where you watch the game and have a few cold ones, a man date has the appearance of the romantic things you would do with your wife--sans the romance.  I really don't have a problem with the concept, although I've always hated the use of that term. Men don't go on dates with other men unless they're gay, in which case it's perfectly o.k. and probably a lot more fun than what most guys experience on a date (I'm not going to go into it, but I know a lot of gay men and trust me they are having more fun). So why wouldn't a man want to think of himself as being on a man date? Because it's not manly damn it! I think of myself as very liberal and accepting; but even I can fall prey the macho B.S. that is heaped upon you as a young man. I guess it's really hard to shake the feeling that at any moment some jock may show up and torture you for not being a he man like Arnold Schwarzenegger, or at least a cool funny dude like Rosie O'Donnell.

But as much as I'd like to think that I wasn't on a man-date, once the movie started it became very clear to me that I was indeed.  IT WAS A CHICK FLICK! I know it was a chick flick because Carlos fell asleep, and 40 minutes into the movie I started thinking "When the hell is something going to blow up". OMG! I just had dinner, drinks, stimulating conversation and a nice walk through the West Village, with a guy that I love (like a brother) to go see a chick flick... which I chose. By the way it was pretty good and I recommend it as a date movie, but not a man-date movie. So do I feel like any less of a man after my man-date experience? Truthfully, just the opposite; I feel a little bit more secure in my masculinity. However, I can't help but think that it will sting ever so slightly the next time my wife refers to Carlos as my girlfriend.