Tuesday, October 11, 2016

The Matter at Hand

In light of a recent political uproar, a personal reminiscence:
In my first job out of college, I was walking up a staircase at an insurance company in suburban Chicago and passed a young woman on her way down the stairs. I gave her a polite nod and kept going. Then I felt a hand squeeze my backside. It wasn't just a pat; it was a full-handed grab. At first, I didn't know what the hell had just happened, but the light dawned quickly.
With understanding came a laugh. The typical roles in such a situation had been reversed, and that struck me as funny. I looked over my shoulder and saw the young woman looking back, not in the least embarrassed.
We both went about our business and that was that. Reflecting on it now, a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence still seems humorous. But experiencing such trespasses on a regular basis would get old really fast.
I mean, please, introduce yourself, share a little polite conversation, see if there's any mutual interest. If all that goes well, any physical contact will have more than just shock value. Some things are funny once, for some people. Other things aren't funny at all.

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