Men are from Mars and women are from Venus -- especially when it comes to table etiquette, shopping habits ... and everything else.

Bruce Sallan: The other night, we had some friends over, and my conservation side came out when I began cutting our large paper napkins in half. We were having dessert, and I thought the napkins were too big and it was a waste. My wife was appalled and demanded I stop immediately. Our friends thought it was quite amusing.

It recalled other times when our Oscar and Felix differences come out (referring to Oscar the slob and Felix the neatnik in Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple," though we're not near as extreme as those two). I'm mostly Oscar, the messy one, but also the one that may be overly budget-conscious. My wife is Felix, the neat one, who may be a bit anal about it in my view (in hers, she's already let go of most of her sense-of-order and cleanliness needs by living with three boys and three dogs -- I'm considered one of the boys).

I like to reuse napkins (if they're not too dirty), reuse tin foil and plastic bags, be quick in the shower, minimize trips to the dry cleaner, wear clothes several times, shop at Costco and Target, buy only when it's on sale, use coupons, and otherwise be fiscally conservative. My wife would call it "cheap," while she would prefer shopping at Neiman Marcus, buying "retail," and going to the dry cleaner after one wearing of anything.

All right, I'm exaggerating, as she's not thaaaaaaat bad, by any stretch. But, it's funny how we're so different in this regard, how/why we love each other and found each other, and that we want to be together the rest of our lives -- I suppose the great love question for everyone. But, what do I know? I'm just a guy.

Bruce Sallan gave up his showbiz career a decade ago to raise his two boys, full-time, now 13 and 16. His internationally syndicated column, A DAD'S POINT-OF-VIEW, is his take on the challenges of parenthood and male/female issues, both as a single dad and now, newly remarried, in a blended family. Join Bruce's A DAD'S POINT-OF-VIEW fan page at Facebook. To contact Bruce, visit his new website brucesallan.com.