"Radicals were the kind of people one didn’t have to dinner."

Hear, hear, Sel!

granjura your posts are so intelligent and incisive. I know you don't live here but you do cut through so much crap from others. Please don't stop posting (as I think you threatened to do recently) because I love reading your 'take' on things.

Hang on! A lot of my relatives and friends to say nothing of my Gardner, are members of the pinny brigade!
The majority of them are very nice people!
So are the judges I work with every day!

Doctors, dentists, Circuit Judges, and all members of a famous organization well known for their induction antics and funny handshakes... if you see what I mean.
Flabbergasted indeed.

When I moved to Bristol to work for the DHSS, my then boss invited all of us medical officers to dinner in his lovely 3storied Bath crescent house!
After pre dinner sherry, then a three course meal , all with different wines with each course, the ladies "retired" to the lounge for coffee and liqueurs while the men had their brandy, port and cigars!
I was flabbergasted!
My, then boss was an ex RAMC colonel and still used officers mess traditions!
To be fair, he had been involved in the 'Bridge too far' affair at Arnhem!
And been a fugitive for many months. BUT! This was in the late 80s-90s!

To be honest, I'd have preferred the port and all the wives were non medical! All the men were the doctors!

I was NOT HAPPY!

I remember the kind of conversations... What do you think about xyz Jane?
Reply 'ah John thinks that ....'. Me 'and what about YOU Jane, what do YOU thing about xyz?. Reply 'well, John says....'. Me 'that is really interesting. But what is your opinion Jane about xyz'. Reply 'oh me, I don't know.. I don't think about things like xyz. Over and over again. Early seventies in Midlands suburbia. And realised that in my native mountains we were much more used to discuss everything and anything, for the mundane to the sublime, via politics, of course A great shock to me at the time.

Sorry, granjura, didn't mean to sound so snippy - misunderstandings all round...

It wasn't being a radical that stopped me from being invited. My cooking on my one attempt to return dinner invitations when we moved to a village was such a disaster, it put an end to these awful events - & we didn't have any silver either.
At other times, if I was seen talking with a group of female neighbours in our street I was accused by their husbands of holding a women's lib group on account of being the only one who did paid work. The same happened at work when three of us women broke through the glass ceiling (fairly low then, early 80s) & became managers. Every time we were seen talking together our male colleagues accused us of plotting against them, poor dears.

Really frustrating that there is no edit function here. Link!

I meant thank you for the link that corrected mine that didn't work. Thank you

Ana nooooo your kinked worked, MINE didn't .. and my thank you was genuine. OMG my English is getting worse if you misread my post. Sorry... and thanks again.

Won't bother in future.

Sorry - posted too soon!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8injvP1lJ8I

This might be better...

I did, honestly my English is getting worse by the day- been back 4 years to French speaking land )- and thanks for the link that didn't work.

youtu.be/LS37SNYjg8w

granjura, don't you mean he gives you 'the willies'?

http://youtu.be/LS37SNYjg8w

there you are, brilliant

Nigel Farage really gives me the woolies

I was truly delighted when the title worked for me - what a relief...
those dinner parties were soooo boring .

I remember my first dinner party as a young married woman in the UK. After dinner the conversation became quite interesting, and I joined in. The lady of the house told me us ladies should retire and powder our nose (not in the modern sense of the term ) and leave the men to port and cigars and intelligent conversation.

I was fuming... and couldn't believe, that in the 70s women were still expected to behave in that way, be pretty and shut up.

And when that sketch was done with Harry Enfield was shown on TV, I knew the woman was me. Will try to find it and post. Thank goodness I went back to Uni and found interesting people to talk to

Nice banner along the top of that page.