To all the wonderful men in our life: Yes, you can buy us dinner. And a movie's okay too.

The New York Times takes a look at what the writer calls The Man Date:

Simply defined a man date is two heterosexual men socializing without the crutch of business or sports. It is two guys meeting for the kind of outing a straight man might reasonably arrange with a woman. Dining together across a table without the aid of a television is a man date; eating at a bar is not. Taking a walk in the park together is a man date; going for a jog is not. Attending the movie 'Friday Night Lights' is a man date, but going to see the Jets play is definitely not.

The article goes on to describe a lot of the dos and don'ts: beer or hard liquor or a glass of wine okay, splitting a bottle of wine dicey; steak or meat-dominated meal great, cooking for another guy (unless its a grill), or candle-lit dinner, nope; going dutch is best. (To which we say, we don't care what we drink; we'll eat anything that doesn't have capsicum in it; and if you insist on paying, we won't sulk.)

Oh yes. Here's the good part.

All men, however, agree that one rule of guy-meets-guy time is inviolable: if a woman enters the picture, a man can drop his buddies, last minute, no questions asked.

We men are such reasonable chaps. 'Enry 'Iggins would approve.