Sitting in my off-site Starbuck's office this morning, just settling into a writing rhythm when a random man approached my table to ask whether he could take me out sometime.
Do I look like fast food, guy?
When I responded that I have a boyfriend, he asked whether he was a serious boyfriend. Now, I'm not saying that it isn't nice to be flattered for your physical wares, especially when the early morning sans makeup lines growing deeper by day often have me cringing at the thought of becoming more and more undesirable in terms of physical appearance as the years wear on. However, it would be nice if, prior to approaching a woman, you had at least some sort of exchange indicating that there was a connection beyond that physical reaction you just had to her rear view.
Had we made eye contact or shared one of those spontaneous awkward moments of revelation in word, deed, clutzy act, I may have been less offended. When this man not only refused to accept my 'Thank you, but I have a boyfriend' asking instead whether it was serious, it spoke volumes of his intention, his objectives and his level of respect for women in general.
The fact that a man would still want to 'take you out' after you've claimed a committed relationship means that he's probably not the best prospect for having a relationship of any kind with. In fact, it reeks of a lack of integrity. If you are the sort of person who values and respects self and other, you would find a woman's ability to turn you down under the auspices of having a boyfriend heart warming, encouraging you to believe that it is possible for people to believe in commitment and love enough to keep their promises. The fact that you even asked points to the fact that you don't believe, maybe never did.
That is just sad.
Now, don't get me wrong. I am totally flattered that this man found me attractive enough to act on the impulse to ask me out. There will surely be a day when those advances are so few and far between that I pine away for them. Today, though, I feel that it's time we all settle for more than simply superficial attraction and skin-deep beauty as the ruling factors dictating our behavior with regard to one another.