I feel it necessary to recount a story about poker and ask for opinions on the events surrounding this. My father has a bunch of friends (guys) that he plays poker with every other Wednesday night. The game moves from house to house so each guy hosts the game about once every two months. Last night was my father's turn to host the game.
I discovered early in the day that this did not simply mean that there would be a bunch of guys playing poker at my parents' house that night. It meant instead that we (my mother and I) were required to vacate the house from 6:30pm to 10:30pm, or at the very least, stay in the two back bedrooms so we would not interrupt the game occurring in the dining room. Mind you that this meant that the computers in the house were off-limits (my parents don't have wireless internet) because to access the computers requires either passing thru the dining room and being in earshot of the game or being along the pathway from the dining room to the main bathroom.
Further annoying me, I discovered that up until a couple of months ago, the wives would often cook dinner for the men and then have to vacate (or at least seclude themselves in) the house. Now, the host only provides snacks and dessert.
Am I the only one who thinks this is a little disrespectful? I have no problem with the male bonding time. Heaven knows I need my female bonding time. My problem is with making the rest of the family either prisoners in their own home or forcing them flee the premises (We went to Panera Bread.). My father stated that the men don't like the women around because they feel bad about cursing and telling off-color jokes. I can understand this; however, if a person is worried that someone is going to be offended by what he is saying, he has two equitable solutions.
1. Don't tell the jokes (or having a discussion with the person who is likely to be offended if you don't think the subject matter is actually offensive)
2. Go somewhere where the people who will be offended aren't going to be (i.e. basement, garage, rent a room at the golf club house, etc)
It just doesn't seem that the appropriate solution is to kick out those who live in the house (I'm speaking for my mother and the other wives b/c I realize that I don't live here technically) and may be offended by the jokes/language. This just really doesn't seem fair! (yes, yes, I know, 'life isn't fair')
Okay, so that's my soapbox for the day. I know I'm taking this to the extreme, but it's annoying me. So let me know what your thoughts are!
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