Tuesday, September 1, 2009

the un-funny guy... un-thank you?

I know this guy who has a friend - whose attitude and lack of friendliness and humor I had recently remarked upon. Turns out I was sort of wrong - he is capable of smiling and being friendly... and then suddenly he's not, again.

Just a preface to my experience with this guy and in no way does it have any bearing on the following:

I am frequently met with skeptical looks when I mention Coral's age... people think I'm joking or something, and start teasing me back. We were at a quiz night tonight and having a good time, and I joined my friend, the un-funny guy, and their friend. We were talking about age and music, connecting the two, when he asked me how old Coral was... I offered it up, and he thought I was kidding. After confirmation from another friend he accepted what I said... then remarked about how hard it was to believe as I look much, much younger. I said, "Thank you" which is sort of my standard response in this situation (why, I don't know and maybe I should reconsider whether or not my assumption that this is a complimentary remark is just me buying in to the male domination/societal focus upon youth equating beauty and desirability).

So, back to tonight...
"... so young..." him -"Thank you" me

Which was met with - "I didn't mean it as a compliment, it' s just my observation, my perception. To me you look about maybe 28 at the most, that's all."

So, how do I respond to that? "Un-thank you, sort of?" I really don't know. I just said, "ok" and then kept talking.

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