Pick On Someone Your Own Age!

Okay, ladies. I wrote this little piece about 5 years ago, but I think it deserves another read as it seems to have a timeless quality. I'm sure you will be able to relate. Enjoy....


I don't think there has ever been a time in our history when women have not had to suffer the cat calls, cheesy pick-up lines and come ons forced upon us by hordes of unenlightened men. However, this young woman has had enough!

As a relatively attractive young woman leading a life filled with friends, fun and creative fulfillment, I don't find myself wanting for very much. Oh, of course, there is the ever elusive seven figure income, the villa in Tuscany and the body of Salma Hayek to go with sun drenched beach holidays romping around with Johnny Depp that I never get to take; but, basically, I'm happy. That is until, while innocently sucking down an iced coffee and perusing a vegetarian magazine as I waited for several of my friends to whisk me off to a wine tasting party, I was hit on by a man no less than 15 years my senior.

It is not simply that this man disturbed my few precious moments of peaceful relaxation, but that he would not recognize the subtle hints that I was sincerely not interested in his company. One would think that sitting in a bookstore reading a magazine and sipping a coffee would be a relatively pick-up-free activity. Much to my amazement, this man was not keen enough to realize that a woman with her nose buried in a magazine about vegetarian cuisine might not be looking for a date. However, the story doesn't end there. As polite as I was, I soon understood that he was not going to leave me alone. From innocently asking me if I worked in the neighborhood (because he surely knows me from somewhere) he sauntered into the "you're really gorgeous, you know that?" routine. He proceeded to tell me that he worked at GM where he had a corner office, as if that was going to impress me any more than his shorts, socks and sandals ensemble. Growing very frustrated with his presence in my personal space, he then asked me out for a date. At this point I was truly annoyed. No longer willing to humor him, I told him flat out that I was not interested. What followed was a first in my life. He actually said that I should take what I can get because I'm not that beautiful. This from a man who only 3 minutes prior told me that I was really gorgeous. At that moment, I was in such a state of shock that I could think of nothing other to say than, "you're being really rude now, so why don't you run along."

Now, I consider myself to be an enlightened woman. I'm not one to resort to name calling when confronted with an unpleasant person. I'm far too educated and self-respecting a woman to do such a thing as to lower myself to making base comments about another person simply because they've upset me. However, five minutes after this vile, potential pedophile scooted off to surely pick up the latest edition of Modern Maturity, did a hundred wonderfully cruel retorts come to mind. The truth is that I honestly could not care less about what this man thinks of me, but not being able to sling the insults at him left me feeling beaten and violated. After discussing my experience with a close friend, I discovered that she too has had similar experiences with men old enough to be her father or even her grandfather hitting on her and then insulting her when she turns them down. And this is a friend of mine who was scouted on the street by a modeling agent in London.
I am appalled at the state of male egomania in the world. I don't hit on teenage boys, and I would appreciate not being hit on by middle aged men. Especially those who are so obviously in need of some serious style counseling. I don't believe that any self-respecting woman would ever be so desperate as to succumb to the banal blabbering of any man so pathetically self obsessed as to use his "corner office" as a come on. This is not 1954 and women are not impressed by the size of a man's bank account, or the size of his shoes. It all comes down to a matter of taste. Men, if you're going to approach a woman who obviously isn't looking for any company, you had better be prepared to offer something more stimulating to talk about than your job. Or, you should at least look like Brad Pitt. I may be enlightened, but that doesn't mean I'm any more receptive to being hit on by anyone less than fabulous!