The never-ending confusion of grabbing a seat in a car!! 🚗

Have you (addressed to women only) ever wondered where to sit while traveling by car with a male friend or colleague? I have. Several times. Before & after marriage. Till date. This might sound very silly and insignificant, but a woman out there could relate themselves to this never-ending confusion.

Once three of us - a male and two females, where one female was married at that time - were out for lunch together by car during our days of research. It becomes an unwritten rule that a married woman wouldn't occupy the front passenger seat with any male except their close family members. When she insisted that I take that seat to avoid making our male friend look like our driver😆, the colleague-friend said a stern 'no.' Though that was quite insulting to me then 😝, it made me wonder what would go wrong if a male and a female sit in the front together. But when two males and a female travel together, be it for personal or professional reason, the latter is pushed to the back passenger seat - no matter which two are closer friends or colleagues. It is also an unwritten rule (may be there is a written rule 😠) that whenever male persons are there, they invariably take the front passenger seat!

Does it depend on the common perception that the male-female duo would be couples or likely to become one; or a sort of discomfort to use gears while driving; or the driver-friend-colleague's fear that he would be seen indifferent; or movies that mostly portray such couples getting physically intimate; or a myth that man to man conversation is easier; or it is merely a status-quo. It could be one or all of these or something else. No clue!

To some extent, this behaviour is justifiable in case of rural parts of India or Tamil Nadu. But in urban parts where we 'claim' to be progressive in many fronts and 'scream' about gender issues, this remains confusing to me! Such practices do not exist in some metropolitan cities outside our state and definitely not a scene in other parts of the world. I prefer the front passenger seat filled first while I drive to have a sense of company during the trip, no matter how short or long the distance is or who travels with me.

Having said that, it is equally difficult to ask our male friend or colleague - who drives - as to where we should sit. That puts both in embarrassment. What if I ask my male friend/colleague to occupy the front seat while I drive and he is reluctant. Again a delicate situation. And what if the woman is unwilling to take the seat despite offered by her male friend? He might feel awkward!

OMG, this discussion is a total chaos and confusing!!!! Instead I should let it go with the flow to save my brain drain! 😎