G is for Girl Talk: Going to the Bathroom in Pairs

If you are my vintage you will remember that wonderful Dave Edmonds song - "Girl Talk". Released in 1979 and written by Elvis Costello, it was a homage to a guy trying to understand the ins and outs of girl talk.

Here's an extract from the lyrics:

There are some things you can't cover up
With lipstick and powder
Thought I heard you mention my name
Can't you talk any louder?

Don't come any closer
Don't come any nearer
My vision of you
Can't come any clearer
Oh I just want to hear girls talk

Got a loaded imagination
Bein' fired by girls talk
It's a more or less situation
Inspired by girls talk

I must confess I have never been a "bathroom in pairs" kind of girl. I have never understood the burning need to go to the bathroom in pairs and have a confab during a social engagement. However, I have experienced being summoned by a friend to do the bathroom thing.

As I age, I have come to appreciate more and more my girl talk discussions with my friends, which thankfully now occurs in places like coffee shops or around the dining room table. When you become older you tend to surround yourself more with people who lift you and who add meaning to your life. At younger ages, social success seems to be measured by quantity rather than quality and by status of said friends within the social circle. What a relief, when the popularity contest of life comes to an end.

But does the way we relate to each other as females change with passing of the years? I think it does. In your later teens and early twenties girl talk usually revolves around guys, rivals, fashion and entertainment. This is not unnatural, given the importance of these things at that time of life. Because of the rapid changes taking place at that time girl talk includes many more topics covered in less depth.

As life moves on, our way of relating moves to the less superficial and more about our place in the wider world and the place within our own families. It is more about the seeking of wisdom, and the seeking of trust and stability. Our lives get busier and the time we can devote to girl talk diminishes with parental duties and career taking up so much time. It therefore becomes more a matter of investing your girl talk time wisely with someone who turly understands you and plumbing greater depths in a shorter period of time.

Long live the fine art of girl talk. It's certainly cheaper than therapy!