It wasn’t hard to send my agreement to join eight friends for a guys night out. We were to rendezvous at a buddy’s house for chow and a movie. Sharing BBQ ribs melds even the most independent-of-guys into great friends.

Great laughs and plenty of sauce makes for a powerful combination. Friendships are forged. Loyalty grows deeply from such moments.

Most of us arrived right on time. Within a few minutes all of us were laughing, teasing and doing the guy-thing. Our host’s wife was still there helping us get our meal items all situated before she left for the night.

She put on her coat and grabbed her purse. She smiled a farewell and I returned her salutation with a wave. At the time I was walking into the family room where the other guys were glued to the TV.

One of the guys asked, “Did she leave?” We confirmed that she had left. Then, he explained that he planned on changing into casual clothes.

He started stripping while we all watched the TV sports coverage. Just then SHE came back and walked right past the family room. She must have forgotten something in the kitchen. It seemed like an appropriate time for an informative comment, “Hey, Frank, I guess she DIDN’T leave.”

There was a sort of dull “Uh?” until the reality of present-life snapped into place. “What? Where? NO!” There was a flurry of activity as he ripped his eyes from the TV and groped for anything to clothe himself. After all, a guest usually doesn’t strip in someone else’s family room.

Our host grabs his wife and ushers her out the back door while you-know-who gets clothed. There was raucous laughter. Hey it was a guy-thing both in error and in guffawing. There was no sympathy expressed but total deepening of guy-friendship.

It was time to chow down. Everyone threw down some hard cash on the counter, grabbed for the fine paper plates, filled it with ribs and chicken. Vegetables were optional for guys-night. There were few manners on display when we vacuumed in the food.

We watched a movie. It wasn’t very good. But, it made the evening better. We complained and ragged on the film like we made a living as film critics.

God surely did a special thing when He created men. He never really knocked off our rough edges. I sure love these guys!