One hell of a red flag
I have been hit on a time or two in my life, but never with quite the approach of the panhandler this afternoon. It went a little something like this…
He says hello and shakes his cup of change at me as I walk past him. I do not put anything in the cup, I just smile and return his hello and do not pause as I walk by. As I pass him, I hear him say, “Whoa, you are gorgeous!” I have passed him by this point, so he starts shouting behind me, “HEY! HEY!!!! ARE YOU SPOKEN FOR!?!” I’m half a block away and walking briskly and pretending I didn’t hear him. I still hear him, he’s still yelling, “JUST SHAKE YOUR HEAD YES OR NO IF YOU’RE SPOKEN FOR.” I’m so far away by this point and it’s weird now b/c I know he’s still watching me. I nod my head for yes, awkwardly looking around to see if anyone else is witnessing this. I can still hear his response, “Awww, maaaaan. Should’ve known.”
I can’t help but think there were a couple things he should’ve known. The first of which being that asking a woman for change does not often lead to them going out with you. I mean, if a girl doesn’t even give you a quarter, don’t you think that’s a big jump to ask for a date? Okay, I’m sure that he was not truly banking on me being his destiny, but he was yelling so loudly and assertively that it was funny, and a little embarrassing that he called so much attention to us both. I laughed in disbelief as I continued walking, but I couldn’t help entertaining this idea. A panhandler just insistently demanded to know if I was spoken for. What if I had said no? Would he have summoned me back? Chased me down? Asked me out? Eventually wore me down until I gave him either my phone number or a dollar? Who knows! I also started to wonder – if he took me out to dinner, would I have to pay for it? Would his panhandling carry over into all aspects of his life? Or is that just what he does to make money, and he otherwise lives a normal life and goes out on dates and such? I don’t know. It’s a mystery. I will never know because I did not tell him I was available, I told him I was spoken for. Not by another guy, but by my commitment to remain single and not date panhandlers. I once dated a guy who lost his job shortly after we started seeing each other. That was close enough for me.
This is hilarious. I have definitely been propositioned by toothless old men and a man who was living in a shelter and was getting an apartment soon. . .lol.
Hehe, in my younger days, I had a guy hand me his number and say, “This is my number, I’m at the halfway house now. Give me a call sometime.” It was clear that the halfway house was a step up in his life. It really is a special kind of feeling to get hit on like that, isn’t it?
Hi just wanted to stop by and say, I really enjoy reading your blog. Being single, I’m still trying to find a way to be completely happy with this status. Not that I’m staying home alone and depressed about it. Just there’s always that part within myself that wants to be with someone exclusively. But anyway, now that I’m in this position, I hope to get those guys from my past out of my mind, and accept what’s around me right now. again, thanks for sharing your experience, it’s been helpful.
Thanks so much for leaving the message, Katharine. Your comment about getting guys from the past out of your mind inspired me to share some memories that surfaced over the weekend. I wrote it into the blog tonight. It’s kind of long, but I always hope that somehow my experiences will shed some light on people who are going through the same things I’ve gone through. Thanks again for stopping by and sharing!