Topic: Home alone (I'm a Rodriguez)

[Raul CB750K1]

Rodriguez is a quite common last name in Spain. But it has become a stereotype and nobody really knows from where it comes.

In Spain, "to be a Rodriguez" means to be home alone because you have to work, while your wife and kids are out of town having vacation. It doesn't work the other way round - a woman will never be a "Rodriguez".

Well, the stereotype is that we men, left home alone, enjoy freedom for some days, don't care about the house, eat pizza and other ready-made foods, watch porn -seriously, when video rentals were still a flourishing business, the X-rated movies rental sky-rocketed during summer-. You know, we misbehave, get out to drink beer, have affairs, and for some days we feel like if we were single and without worries.

You just have to tell your co-workers "you are a Rodriguez" and you get lots of smiling looks, winks, elbow pats and funny looks...


I was wondering whether the same stereotype exists where you live, and whether it has a given name too.

[lynchj]

Can't say that I have ever heard that expression here in the north east USA. If a wife is away on vacation (with the kids) and the husband is left alone I've always called that "living the bachelor life" for a little while anyway. 

[tramp]

never heard of the term here in michigan
we just call it having fun

[Blasbo]

"living the bachelor life" 

or "batchin' it", not really something to be envied because you have to fend for yourself, cooking, cleaning. laundry etc. At least that's what the female co-workers think

[flybox1]

i've been a batchelor for 16 days now.   it's sure been nice, and i've finished a lot of projects around the house, and been on a few long rides in the great weather (90's) we've been having.
But i can say....i miss them and am ready to have them home.
the wife and kids left peoria, az early this am, and are due to be back to seattle on thursday.
my recycling bin is full of bottles , the dishwasher is full, laundry is clean, and ready to be folded.
still gotta vacuum and fold laundry.

...i just know they'll be home early!

fb1

[Glenn Stauffer]

Probably a much less common concept in the US since many people traditionally had only a few weeks of vacation and separate vacations likely weren't as common except in those places where people's families would go off to the cabin by the lake or the shorehouse for the summer. 

With a wife that doesn't have a job outside of the home, a 4 year old kid, and farm animals to tend to, I take vacations from work to stay home with the family.  Fortunately, I got 40 years of bachelorhood out of the way before I got married.

[Raul CB750K1]

Probably a much less common concept in the US since many people traditionally had only a few weeks of vacation and separate vacations likely weren't as common except in those places where people's families would go off to the cabin by the lake or the shorehouse for the summer. 

With a wife that doesn't have a job outside of the home, a 4 year old kid, and farm animals to tend to, I take vacations from work to stay home with the family.  Fortunately, I got 40 years of bachelorhood out of the way before I got married.

You're right, it has much to do with the vacation time. In Spain, kids are out of school for almost three months -mid june to mid september. When mothers doesn't work outside from home and fathers have only two weeks vacation, having the kids three months home in the city house seems like a hard-to-withstand prospect. Therefore, traditionally families rented an appartment in the beach, where the family would spend the summer while the husband would go there on weekends, to return to the city to work.

That's what I'm doing. Well, actually not because my family is on vacation, but because my wife is looking after her mother who's ill...

[BobbyR]

Probably a much less common concept in the US since many people traditionally had only a few weeks of vacation and separate vacations likely weren't as common except in those places where people's families would go off to the cabin by the lake or the shorehouse for the summer. 

With a wife that doesn't have a job outside of the home, a 4 year old kid, and farm animals to tend to, I take vacations from work to stay home with the family.  Fortunately, I got 40 years of bachelorhood out of the way before I got married.

Back when I was a kid the Mothers rarely worked. The wife and kids would stay somewhere and the father would come up on weekends. Now that the two family income is very common, you find less and less of that situation. It may be a factor in our 50% divorce rate.

[my78k]

I find myself in this exact position for the next couple of days....Wife and kids are at my parents' cottage and I have to work so I am home alone. Decided to have a couple of vodka and Red Bulls after work today and suddenly I decided I had the energy to tackle tearing out my bar in the basement! She has been hounding me for months to tear it out and start working on fixing up the basement! I love destruction so with crow bar in hand about an hour later it was demo'd.

Tomorrow night is ride night though as I  have most of my chores done...

Dennis

[noahspop]

i call it "being on vacation", except i still have to go to work.
i don't have to go home right a way. i could hit up the skatepark after work. just have a little me time.
eventually i will start to miss the family.

[Gordon]

I'll be a "Rodriguez" by the time I get home from work tonight.  My wife and son are going out of town for a week, and I'm off for the next four days!