Throwing out the "Boyfriend"

Okay, I am just going to throw this out there. We went to the game last Wednesday and this group of girls sat behind us. They were some sort of summer program or school program. That was obvious. However, sitting in front of them was this duo of 20 somethings and I had no idea they were with the group until later in the game.

At one point towards the end of the game, I moved up to sit in the same row and I struck up conversation. I was asking about the program and what it was about and then the young woman I was talking to said she was not from around here. So I started asking questions, 'Where you from?' and 'What part of Illinois?' And that's when it came.

' I have a boyfriend!' 

Okay, I have a rash on the back of my knees. What's your point?

At what point and why do women think that because you are taking a genuine interest in them and asking questions to make conversation that that equates to, "Hey Baby, I want to be your Man"? I have never, YET, been talking to a man and have him throw out, "Hey, I have a wife." I understand it's a bit more complicated than that but does it have to be? I was not hitting in this young lady, I wanted to know about her, where she was from, what her group was about, etc. This is actually part of a bigger problem that is not just a woman thing, but a people thing.

It's a sad fact that the art of being genuinely interested in people is dying. You can tell this when you say something as simple as hello to people and they look at you as if you just called them a freaking idiot. It's another sad fact that we are vain and we can't take our eyes off ourselves long enough to realize, it's not about us. I like people, I am genuinely interested in them. I understand that she probably was uncomfortable by my questions and was wondering why I wanted to know these things. It saddens me to think that the best this woman could equate my interest in her and her occupation to was a come on.

I point you back to a man who walked the earth 2000 years ago. He took a genuine interest in all people and brought and gave hope to the hopeless. He asked the right questions and he listened. When he spoke, E.F. Hutton listened. He spent time with His eyes on others and not himself and ultimately gave His life. And with that, he changed lives and the world forever. 

If we all talked a little less, asked the right questions, listened, took a genuine interest in others, how much better would our world be? Don't know, but I am going to continue to talk to strangers and take an interest in others and hopefully help change lives in the process or at the least make this world a little beter.