Ladies and their loos

However common an occurrence, it always strikes me as funny when I'm out in a group and one of my girlfriends announces that she needs to use the restroom. Not because I find her bodily functions in any way amusing, but rather because without doubt her next line will be, "Do you want to come with me?"

Do I, really? Regardless of the state of my bladder it's fairly certain that I will say yes. Because this is the way of women. Men are hunters - stealth beings in a constant state of competition, who choose often to take on the world alone - and women gather. We gather together in office kitchenettes to discuss last night's television shows, the state of our home lives, a new purchase or the guy on level four who looks like he's interested. We also congregate in kitchens at house parties to discuss similar topics although this time under the guise of food preparation or dish washing. But our favourite place to cluster is the loo. For the plain and simple fact that we know the men aren't going to hunt in women's toilets, whether they want to or not.

Now if truth be told I am not one for bringing my friends to the lavatory with me unless I don't need to use the toilet at all, and am taking her there purely to purge a juicy piece of gossip... that's because I'm the kind of girl who likes to pee anonymously. But I will never pass up a restroom invitation from a fellow femme, as to do so would likely mean missing out on something interesting - and you never want to be left out of the loop!

At the weekend I experienced a case of the 'event-exodus' loo-liaison, the ones where you and your girlfriend/s need to plan a way to exit a party either without making a scene or indeed, without being seen... And just yesterday I was party to a colleague-bitch-fest in the company loo. In the latter case we organised our 'rendezvous' through facial expressions alone, employing our eyebrows like the catcher uses his fingers to communicate to the pitcher - in fact we chicks have skills those boys can only dream of.

Ultimately our gatherings take place when we're up to no good, but that doesn't mean they're going to stop anytime soon. Cave women started it (or at least I assume), and modern women will continue the trend - although now in tiled rooms, and far better dressed - until time immemorial.