Unsmooth Operator

As I slip further and further away from "miss" and into "ma'am", I am more keenly aware of how I am treated in public by the opposite sex. I've come to the realization that I'm not the sweet young thing (subjective opinion) that I once was.

The men who shamelessly flirt with me these days are guys in some sort of service industry (or crazy guys, I get that too). I was finding this surprising and even flattering, but now I know they do it because they are paid to. You get more flies with honey, right? Sometimes, if done well, it still is flattering, but sometimes it's just ridiculously disingenuous and creepy, like wearing too much cologne.

I checked into my hotel in New York this week, and the guy at the desk was just dripping with flirtery. On first glance, he was a young, probably gay, Hispanic guy so he caught me off guard when he batted his eyes and said "Is this your first stay? I do hope you come back again". My mind said, "what was that?". I turned to my co-worker to see if he heard it too. He did, but he did not betray it.

Then, he said "Here is your key, please stop by if you need a map...or just to say hi." Uh huh. Come on, dude, just be polite. You are not convincing or endearing. I'm a responsible consumer. I would have tipped you anyway.