it's hard being a man

our family eats out pretty often - about once every other week, sometimes more if we're busy.  9 times out of 10, we pile into the car and pull out of the driveway having no clue where we're going to end up.  it's not that we're adventurous, fly-by-the-seats-of-our-pants kinda people; it's that we can't ever agree on where we want to eat. 

i like sweet tomatoes, he has to have some kind of meat ("if there's no meat it's just a side dish.").

he's a creature of habit, i like to try new things.

it can be a bit stressful. 

so when i read Emily Post's rules for dining out when a woman invites a man and saw how stress-inducing this could be, i decided i'd let my husband do the inviting from now on, cause i could use a little less stress in my life...

Lesson #2

"When a woman invites a man to dine with her for personal rather than business reasons and it is understood that she is paying the bill, there may be some embarrassment at the time the check is presented.  The best solution is for the woman to have a credit card, or possibly a charge account at the restaurant.  The act of signing a slip of paper does not somehow seem so objectionable as having the woman check over the bill and count out the money while the man sits helplessly by. 

Mary's always prepared...

In fact, this situation is so awkward that many women without chage privileges prefer to give their guest a sum of cash large enough to cover the bill before they enter the restaurant, thus relieving the man of any embarrassment before the waiter. Incidentally, this solution serves in the case of the husband who has left his wallet behind or has insufficient money with him. Rather than have him embarrassed in front of the staff or his guests, his wife may pass him the necessary sum without calling attention to his situation."

...so is Fat Jesus.

so what's more embarrassing:  having your wife pay or carrying a satchel?