Your significant other is suddenly called away to China for a week and a half on business. You...

I believe proper school English would use "he" if the the person in question is anything other than clearly a woman. for instance, if you were talking about a crowd that included men and women, you'd say, "...everyone picked up his pencil..." even though that wasn't appropriate for some of the crowd. But you could certainly say, "Each took her bra and went..."

English is weird.

At least you have "Attack from Mars" to keep you busy while he's gone. Do you think of him when you bang those flippers? Jen's going to Berlin in the summer, and I don't have a pinball machine...

All of the above and more...

I might go with him if I weren't allergic to soybeans. Then again, I might not.

I checked options based on an assumption that the relationship between my SO and I is a good one.

I will miss my significant other, and I will probably have a hard time sleeping (see the sleeping survey) but I won't miss him "horribly". I know he'll be back, and just as cute as ever. I guess if it was really sudden (he comes home Tuesday night and says "by the way, I'm flying out to China tomorrow for 1 1/2 weeks) I would be a little peeved.

steve: he was an office boy, his name was "Betty"/his favourite band was Twisted Sister. . .

I don't have a significant other! ha! :) But if I did I would miss them, but I could bare with it.

I wouldn't be too concerned for their safety... after all, isn't it to China's advantage to make sure that they look good in the eyes of other countries? (Now, if they -lived- there, I'd be more worried...) *** As for the "miss them horribly" part, well, I'm in a long-distance relationship (Boston/Albany... that's long -enough-), so I'm already in that groove. :)

I'd go with him!! No question. Bob and I haven't been apart a day since I moved in back in 1995. Not because we're possessive or anything, but because it rarely comes up and when it does, it's always somewhere interesting that the other person wants to go see. If I go somewhere overnight, he comes along, and visa versa. I'd love to see China! I could explore all sorts of things while he was working.

I'd probably just go with him. *** Bill, you can come play Black Knight 2000 in NH if I ever get that flipper fixed.

I would be driven insane by being the only care giver for my 21 month old daughter for that long. Yikes.

*** It's not the English language that's "weird" in this case. It's our Patriarchal society.

I chose lots of them. I'm not telling which ones for fear of reprisal.

heh, my girlfriend goes away to China at least once a year as a matter of fact. I miss her, and of course I look forward to the chances to be alone to get time in before she goes, but other than that, not really any of the above. (Yeah, I'm in a long distance relationship too, but I made the assumption that I was physically with her and then she had to go. Not too hard to imagine ).

The whole "they" thing is a straw man. It's been used in the English language for hundreds of years before the Latinate grammar mavens decided to make a cause celebre of it. Basically, it's not an antecedent agreement issue, it's a variable/quantifer situation. For an excellent exploration of this issue, see Steven Pinker's _The Language Instinct_. I'm sorry he's gone and you have my cellphone number. Good luck with the pot roast.

My significant other just became my ex-significant other (my significant ex-other?), and I would wish him bon voyage and suggest he never return. The next to last option is terribly cute.

My husband is in charge of 14 countries in Asia. He also is frequently back in the States and occasionally in Europe. In the last six weeks, Tom has been home five weekends and three weekdays. I enjoy the time alone (especially when I'm busy with work). Sometimes I'm lonely, but since lots of travel is common in HK most of my friends are in similar situations. Often my best friend (whose husband is a pilot) and I hang out together.

The first 2 and look forward to being alone for a while.

Since my "significant other" has been out of reasonable driving distance for, oh, 4 years now (during the school year, at any rate) and I usually didn't get to see him but once a month if that, it really wouldn't be that big of a deal. I'd wish I could go with him and I'd be a little concerned for his safety, and I'd miss him some, but not horribly. *** Lizzie reminded me... he pulled that "oh, by the way I'm leaving in 3 days for a week or so" once. That would bother me.

Okay, I should have worked harder on my answers; I'm sure there's a vast range of possibilities that I didn't think of just now, but this is all part of my little petulant frenzy. ("A petulant frenzy! A petulant frenzy! I'm petulant, and I'm having a frenzy!") *** Apropos the pronoun question, let me just say again to READ "THE LANGUAGE INSTINCT"; not only is it an *excellent* book all around, but it includes a wonderful discussion of why it's *fine* to use "they" in this context and the grammar mavens should get real jobs. Apropos "Betty", I'm glad someone other than Ms. Hunter got the reference. ***And we did have less than 24 hours notice. ("My plane leaves at 7:30 tomorrow morning.")

You see, steve, it's different if it happens ONCE, in contrast to frequently and without appology (from the company, not from your husband, of course). I'd envy them, be happy for them, miss them, look forward to the chance to be alone, and be concerned. We always use 'they,' as a royal third person pronoun. We are amused

'they/them' is a perfectly valid singular third person pronoun in my ideolect

...invite my friends over for pot roast.

it's hard for me to imagine as i've never had a significant other but i guess i would miss them

If I could, I'd go with him. If not, I'd be happy for him to go, would miss him, and would expect a postcard!!

Mixed bag.. You can still miss someone even if you're glad to be alone for a little bit.. And you can still be happy and slightly envious that they're going.

NotA. It's not necessarily an enriching crosscultural experience, though if it is I'm happy for him. Miss him, but not horribly. Don't enjoy being alone, but do enjoy the opportunity to do some things I don't generally do while he's around.

I'd get a bit jealous and wonder if they'd stay faithful, but I'd show nothing and make them feel as comfortable as possible about it