This Year's Drum Circle

Manbque.

CHICAGO – The men head straight for the Wicker Park backyard carrying beer and prized cuts of raw meat.

There, in the charcoal haze of three grills crackling on a 40-degree night, they find dozens of other men just like them – wearing hooded sweatshirts, often speaking with their mouths full and not worrying about what their girlfriends or wives might say.

And there are rules, for crying out loud:

RULE: Manbque should only be held during the week. Weekends are for Coed B Ques where there is a slight chance of actually going home with a woman.


RULE: Any vegetables served at Manbque must be within the tight parameters of meat in the form of a kabob.

What you really have here is another case of beta males trying to ape alpha-male behavior.