For years I’ve wondered why dinner sets, cutlery sets, wine glasses, etc are purchased in equal numbers. Yes, I am aware that you will have guests from time to time and many families are made up of 2, 4, 6 and sometimes 8! Yet to me, packaged in equal sets suggests that it would be odd to have an uneven number of people at your table.
I have always believed that a dinner set of 5 or 7 on the market would be perfect for the thousands of ‘singletons’ that enjoy a ripper of a dinner party…just a thought.
A scene I find myself in often is the humble dinner party. A scene often made up of couples and a token singleton…ahem…that would be me.
Take Bridget Jones for example…at a dinner party she was the only singleton at a table brimming with couples. For those who are happily ‘coupled’ stay with me…this is not an attack, rather an observation.
It is not a case of us singletons unable to hold our own in a couples arena with intelligent conversation, witty humour and an equal interest in gastronomic ventures. It is a case of blindingly obvious differences highlighted in our romantic dispositions when we’re seated at the end of the table with an odd chair. It doesn’t help when it’s a hot pink plastic study chair dragged from the one of the kid’s bedrooms. Petty you think? Me too. Again, this is just an observation.
Yet for our dear Bridget, to add insult to injury, a Spanish inquisition begins regarding her love life and the need to hurry up and find a bloke…oh and wait for it…not to be so picky. If she hadn’t felt single before the entree had appeared, she does now. For her group of friends, it seems that her singleness is something they need ‘fixed’. And she had better make it snappy because heaven help her if her eggs die before the conversation does. It appears that her singleness is an uncomfortable problem for all but Bridget. She is single, not ill. No need for repair, diagnosis or solutions unless requested. It would have been a different story if she had opened the conversation on her supposed dilemma.
Believe it or not, I have been told on many occasions to hurry up and get a bloke of my own so ‘hubby’ has a someone to talk to throughout dinner. If the need is that pressing, I’m sure ‘hubby’ is able to phone a friend. Odd numbers at a table is never something to fear. Having singletons present at your table won’t put a spanner in the works or heaven forbid mess with your table setting. Fear not the singleton at your table…we are not afraid of you and yours.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
It doesnt help that underneath our clothes our bodies are covered in scales…
I love this article. Maybe because I married young, I have always had ’singletons’ at my dinner parties. In fact, I prefer you leave your husbands at home. Thank you.
CRAP….I hate typos. Please add an apostrophe to husband’s!
You are both hilarious!
Keep up the good work, I like your writing.
this post is very usefull thx!
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