At Friday’s luncheon, I found my name on Table 6 and sat myself next to Ben. Ben works for the management services business group, which is in a different building to where I work. So even though we had worked for the same company for a year, this was the first time we had met. I knew the rest of his team mates, though, and they were all women.

“So Ben,” I said, “Are you the only guy in your team?”

“Joan,” he replied immediately, “it’s been like that my whole life.” I found out that Ben used to be an occupational therapist. “At uni, all the occupational therapy students were girls, so when I started working, I worked with females too. Now that I do communications and sociology, they’re all girls again! I must have the kind of skill areas that are traditionally female-dominated.”

I laughed. “That’s… a weird sitatuion, considering you work for an engineering company.”

“That’s right. There are plenty of men around — I’m just not working with them! Don’t get me wrong, though. It’s all good.”

“Well, I’m an engineer. I’ve always worked with guys and as you probably know, when you get to know people, it’s not like ‘He’s a guy’ or ‘She’s a girl’. They’re just people. Except when they start talking about shoes, right? Then they’re girls.”

“Yeah,” Ben agreed. “I have trouble relating when they start talking about shoes.”

“So, then, do you do something suitably violent and male when you’re not working?” I asked.

Ben brightened. “I do!”

Football, right? I thought. That, or karate.

“Yeah, I do kung fu.”

Bingo.