For the last few weeks, my fella and I have been staying with a male friend during a monthlong gap between homes. Fella and Friend work at the same company, about 30 minutes away. Every morning, Fella and Friend get up, go about their morning routines, get in their cars, and leave — all within 5 minutes of each other.
Before we moved in, and once since then, I suggested that they carpool. Different schedules, they protested. Wouldn’t work.
This morning, as I waved them off at the same time, I found myself wondering if gender plays a role in this. Are they afraid to ride together because they might have to bond? Do their cars represent some sort of macho status symbol that they can’t give up? To be honest, I can’t picture two female friends in a similar situation imposing the same isolation on themselves.
I Googled around quick-like, and there’s actually a little bit out there about ridesharing and gender [PDF] — including one study [PDF] that suggests that the fact that men earn more in general means they worry less about saving money by carpooling. If I have time, I’ll look around some more.
Then again, I could just be overthinking the actions of two guys whose routine is being disrupted for three weeks. Maybe I should MMOB.
