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Response to newspaper stupidity
Apr. 1st, 2011 10:09 amIt's time for our occasional feature, "Response to Newspaper Stupidity!" I haven't done one of these in a while, but one of the letters to the editor in today's Gazette got my blood boiling. Here we go:
Men should pay (The Gazette April 1, 2011)
Re: "Age of equality: Who pays on the first date?" (Gazette, March 28).
The bill should be paid by men because it is a courtesy that men want to do. Secondly, it would be disgusting if the women paid on their first date. Lastly, men feel glad when they pay on their first date. I believe the men must pay on their first date.
Hardeep Multani, Lachine
*****
Julie's response:
First, for the sake of full disclosure, I must say two things. First, having dated Marc for over four years, it's been a while since I've been on a first date. Second, I am not a man. Everyone got that? Good.
Not being a man, I have no idea whether men "feel glad" when they pay on a first date. For the sake of argument, I'm willing to concede the point. I'm even willing to concede that having the man pay is a traditional courtesy that "men want to do." The real sticker is that second point, "it would be disgusting if the women paid on their first date." Really? Disgusting? What if the woman makes more than the man? What if they'd agreed to go Dutch? Or the woman was the one who asked the man out? If you really think, in 21st-century Canada, that a woman paying on a first date is "disgusting," I humbly suggest you go outside and get a dose of the real world.
[Caveat: Both the letter and response apply, obviously, to dates involving a man and a woman. I have absolutely no idea what the etiquette is on same-sex first dates.]
Men should pay (The Gazette April 1, 2011)
Re: "Age of equality: Who pays on the first date?" (Gazette, March 28).
The bill should be paid by men because it is a courtesy that men want to do. Secondly, it would be disgusting if the women paid on their first date. Lastly, men feel glad when they pay on their first date. I believe the men must pay on their first date.
Hardeep Multani, Lachine
*****
Julie's response:
First, for the sake of full disclosure, I must say two things. First, having dated Marc for over four years, it's been a while since I've been on a first date. Second, I am not a man. Everyone got that? Good.
Not being a man, I have no idea whether men "feel glad" when they pay on a first date. For the sake of argument, I'm willing to concede the point. I'm even willing to concede that having the man pay is a traditional courtesy that "men want to do." The real sticker is that second point, "it would be disgusting if the women paid on their first date." Really? Disgusting? What if the woman makes more than the man? What if they'd agreed to go Dutch? Or the woman was the one who asked the man out? If you really think, in 21st-century Canada, that a woman paying on a first date is "disgusting," I humbly suggest you go outside and get a dose of the real world.
[Caveat: Both the letter and response apply, obviously, to dates involving a man and a woman. I have absolutely no idea what the etiquette is on same-sex first dates.]
