Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Male inadequacy

Today I agreed to meet a female friend for dinner. As I was approaching central London, she called me and said that she was tired and suggested that rather than our going to a restaurant, would I mind stopping off at a supermarket and getting some cheeses and baguettes and stuff, plus some wine, and we could then eat in at her flat.

No problem whatsoever. I stopped at Sainsbury's. The cheeses were yummy looking, and I couldn't really decide, so I got four different kinds (one Italian, one Danish, and two French, in case you are wondering). Of course, having got to my friend's flat, it became immediately obvious that I had bought far too much cheese. No actual problem. My friend assured me this was just fine, and thanked me for doing the shopping. She and I sat down, ate and drank, and generally had a pleasant time, and the additional cheese was put in the fridge for consumption on some later date. Cheese keeps for a few weeks. No problem.

Somehow though, I feel bad about this. I couldn't estimate an appropriate amount of cheese. Four pieces was clearly too much, and I should have realised this when in the supermarket. I somehow feel the additional cheese will be wasted. (It won't. My friend loves good cheese and will undoubtedly eat it or serve it to someone else. Certainly I would have no problem polishing off four pieces of cheese in a couple of weeks).

Yet, I failed as a shopper. I didn't get it exactly right. No doubt if I were married or had a girlfriend, I would be going through this sort of angst all the time.

Or perhaps I too need to get out more.

No comments:

Blog Archive