Cheerios and Those Funny Stand Up Toilet Thingies

The Male Buffer....how close together can a straight guy be to any other guy and not break the code of heterosexuality?

The most explicit example is urinal selection. Dave Barry explained it pretty well. Essentially there is a buffer around guys that is only broken in the most dire circumstances.

(There is a point to this - bear with me)

Situation 1. Five urinals (A B C D E). Someone is at urinal A. Where do you go?

A B C D E
X

The answer is - E!

Situation 2. Someone is at Urinal A and E. Where do you go?

A B C D E
X - - - - X

The answer is - C!

Okay, the gist is that no one EVER gets near the other guys.

The same holds true to some extent for seats in classrooms, bus rides, park benches, Britney Spears concer...um...okay, maybe not the last one. At that point, dignity is lost.

Women, however, seem to clump within the phenomenon of the 'cheerio effect'. The basic principal can be explained with breakfast cereal. Pour yourself a bowl of floaty-type cereal. Eat. When the last spoonful is still in the bowl - stop. Are the cheerios swimming off on their own, hoping not to be noticed? Nope, they clump together in a show of nutritional solidarity.

DO YOU HAVE A POINT, ANNE?

Yes, thank you for asking.

One more case. Men will normally sit close to women without much problem. This somewhat negates the buffer rule. It is as if the presence of the woman somehow affirms the heterosexuality of the dude.

The point?

Last night, in class, with plenty of open area available - I found myself surrounded by some of the cuter men of the class.

I just thought it was cool