It seems to me from my long-standing observation of married couples that the wife invariably receives priority, and this was borne out by two recent experiences of mine. In the first of these, I went into an old inn, ordered a drink and a snack at the bar, and took a seat at a table not far from the large open fire, this being a very cold day. I was the first customer in. But then, very quickly, I was followed by three couples. Two of these were elderly, and the third were probably in their fifties. And the same thing happened with each. After ordering at the bar, the wife led the way into the room chose the table that interested her, and took the best seat - the one in the corner, the one with its back to the wall, the one nearest the fire, whatever. The husband then took what was left, the other seats not being very convenient, because the diner's back was likely to be brushed against by somebody going by, or that it was the furthest from the fire, or whatever. A second-class seat, quite obviously.

And a similar thing happened in a mini-bus tour of Barbados I made earlier this week - with the driver known as "The Rooster" a highly-knowledgeable and entertaining character - look him up if you ever go there - most people will know of him. Anyway, two couples joined me and some others, and, even though we got off and on a lot, the wives always got the best (window) seat. The one, white-haired American guy, with his dyed-blonde wife, even stepped back, after getting to his feet, to let his wife get OFF the bus first. She always got ON first, of course.

It struck me that one way men in general are losing out in western countries these days, is because men like these are running the governments of these countries. They are so used to being second-class that it's second nature to them.