1.07.2008

Attention guys: CHOOSE your words carefully...

I'll start this by saying that my sister is much nicer than I am. Maybe "nicer" isn't the right word, but she's definitely much less cynical and judgmental. And I envy that in her. So when she gets a call on Saturday night from a guy she met months ago and never went out with but occasionally text messages (I don't even think they've talked on the phone), she answers and invites him to meet us at Pesos, even though she knew there was no potential with him. I think she just didn't know what to say, and "Yeah, you should meet up with us," was the first thing that came to mind.

So a few hours later, he's shown up...ALONE...and she's busy entertaining him because he's socially awkward and unwilling to make conversation with anyone else. (See? There's that judgmentalness coming out.) At some point during the night, he asks her my least favorite question to be asked by a guy: "So why don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Why do you ask?" she says.
He answers, "I'm just surprised no one has chosen you yet."

Chosen. Chosen?! CHOSEN?

That word struck both my sister and me as a ridiculously terrible choice. Like he was implying that if she was lucky enough to be "chosen" by anyone, she would immediately succumb to him. Like she's just one item in a catalog of women. Like you could choose her like you'd choose a good piece of steak. (Aaaand here's the cynicism...) Ugh. Realistically, I know that really wasn't what he was implying. I realize that he just chose the wrong word. But either way, it was a dealbreaker for my sister.

So let this be a lesson for all you guys out there: Make sure you choose your words carefully when asking a girl about her current single status. More often than not, it's a touchy subject.

1 comment:

Jack said...

Ouch. Why would you ask about that sort of thing on a night out anyway? It just invites trouble.