2008 Woodie Awards
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The Scene
Everybody Does It...Playing third wheel sometimes proves rewarding, eye-opening
By Blair Bryant Nichols on 3/29/07
There's an old saying that goes, "Two's company, three's a crowd." In fact, the television show "Three's Company" was playing off this old cliché by trying to show how it was possible for three people to live happily together. But this sitcom showed the pitfalls of this arrangement. When we were little we had to ride a tricycle before we could attempt a "big kid's bike." Since childhood, we have been raised to understand that you must transition from three to two.
So why is it that every movie about adolescent cliques seems to center around a core group of three people? "Mean Girls," "Jawbreaker," "Heathers" and other similar movies all depict a power trio of females whose friendship is disrupted with the addition of a fourth. We are taught there is safety in numbers, but what number is the safest? Should we strive for a solid tripod to support our lives or are the two feet beneath us enough? Will adding a new member to our entourage breed dissension, or the more the merrier? When it comes to going out with couples, does it ever feel OK to be the third wheel?
It is never harder to be single than when all your best friends are in relationships. Your usual nights out become a compromise: "Well, if I go out tonight, then I'll have to stay in this weekend," your friend says, even though he used to call you every 24 to 48 hours to see what the plan for the evening was. No matter what you do, it becomes impossible to avoid feeling that you are the lone bachelor in a pack of monogamists.
"I never see you anymore," my former best friend who's been in a relationship for two years laments. "We really need to go out." It is impossible to express to these friends that you haven't deliberately eschewed their company but have restructured your social life because of their more important commitments. Nevertheless, when they eventually decide that they've had enough of their significant other (or are just desperate for your attention), it becomes mandatory to indulge their request for a night on the town.
So why is it that every movie about adolescent cliques seems to center around a core group of three people? "Mean Girls," "Jawbreaker," "Heathers" and other similar movies all depict a power trio of females whose friendship is disrupted with the addition of a fourth. We are taught there is safety in numbers, but what number is the safest? Should we strive for a solid tripod to support our lives or are the two feet beneath us enough? Will adding a new member to our entourage breed dissension, or the more the merrier? When it comes to going out with couples, does it ever feel OK to be the third wheel?
It is never harder to be single than when all your best friends are in relationships. Your usual nights out become a compromise: "Well, if I go out tonight, then I'll have to stay in this weekend," your friend says, even though he used to call you every 24 to 48 hours to see what the plan for the evening was. No matter what you do, it becomes impossible to avoid feeling that you are the lone bachelor in a pack of monogamists.
"I never see you anymore," my former best friend who's been in a relationship for two years laments. "We really need to go out." It is impossible to express to these friends that you haven't deliberately eschewed their company but have restructured your social life because of their more important commitments. Nevertheless, when they eventually decide that they've had enough of their significant other (or are just desperate for your attention), it becomes mandatory to indulge their request for a night on the town.
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