Fatherhood Friday: Male Bonding

A couple of weks ago, one of the bloggers at DC Metro Moms, where I blog as the lone dad, posted an entry about what she loves about womanly bonding.  She went on to discuss about what she loves about sharing and connecting, woman to woman.  After her post I made a comment about how different it is in my world....  I'd like to talk about that in some detail, today.

A few weeks ago, I got a phone call from a colleague/buddy from a different agency that went something like this:

Colleague:  Hey, GF! What's happening man?!

GF:  Dude!  Whats up?  It's been a while... where've you been?

Colleague:  Busy, man... you know how it is.

GF:  Yeah, I hear you.

Colleague:  Hey, I need a favor

GF:  Name it

Colleague:  I'm heading out of town... I need to sight-in my M-4... can you give me a little time this afternoon?

GF:  Sure, come in at noon.  I have shooters at thirteen hundred, but that should give us time

Colleague:  Cool!  See you then!

When my friend arrived that afternoon, we set up some zeroing targets, and I broke out the binoculars so I could call his shots and help him get his scope sighted properly.  Between strings of fire, we talked about the usual stuff, and then settled in to our usual topic:  Our children.

Now, in your world, it might seem odd that two men who are trying to sight in a tool that is made only for killing would spend most of that time talking about their children, but I am here to tell you, that is exactly how it went down.  While making sight adjustments between strings of fire, we talked about his daughters who are both in college, and what they plan to do in the future (one is doing a double major in Mandarin and Business).  About my oldest who will be a college junior this fall (I'm so proud) and my little one, just finishing the fourth grade.

We talked briefly about his new rifle, and in a generous gesture, he allowed me to put some rounds through it to get a feel for the rifle's accurized trigger.  In return, I let him shoot Goliath (yes, my pistol has a name!) as his agency uses a different gun.

We spent a very pleasant hour talking about our families, the peculiarites of our jobs, and what retierement will hold for us (he plans to teach high school... I am still considering the Seminary).  We talked about the current events that took him out of town for a few weeks, and evaluated the new generation of firearms instructors that are learning their trade now... who will be us in ten or fifteen years.

Until that day, I hadn't seen my friend in months, even though his office is only about 5 miles from mine... that's just how it is in my world.  It was good to see him and to talk to him, and when he left, it was like we had been shooting the breeze daily for months.

No, we don't bond via shopping.  We're men.  We are wired differently.  We talk about guns, food, beer, our old military days (he was a Ranger, and served in the Grenada invasion... I was in another part of the world, at the time).  But to tell you the truth, we spent most of that time talking about our kids.

I suppose that despite the fact that men and women are substantially different (to which I say amen!), our commonality resides in parenthood.  Once we strip away various gender-specific things, we all, at the end of the day, want to talk about our families... the thing that makes us happy, and gives meaning to our lives.

Fatherhood Friday is a weekly blogging event that is sponsored by The Dad Blogs.  Drop by if you can, and see what my brother fathers are talking about.