You'll never believe in what happened this evening
I went out with some of my friends after work last night.
We started out in a Walkabout. While I was dancing, someone came over, sat at the edge of our booth and managed to spill something on my coat (my friends were still there, I didn't just abandon it). I came back and told him that he should buy me a drink to apologise. He agreed and told me I was amazingly beautiful and I must hear that a lot. I said thank you, and agreed (I think most young women in clubs hear that a lot). He told me he didn't stand a chance in hell with me, and I agreed. He ran away, which was a bit annoying. I did want a drink, I only had a tenner to spend that evening.
Thing is, the reason he didn't have a chance in hell with me was because he said he didn't. What am I supposed to do, try to convince him otherwise?
We went to the Dublinner after that, and I ended up talking to a nineteen-year-old who looked twelve. He had a theory that childbith didn't hurt because we should have evolved out of it by this point. He seemed to have misunderstood the key points of evolution - ie, that traits that help us survive longer tend to stick around.
Humanity is a tribal species. We stick to social groups. So, from the point of view of the species, it makes no difference whatsoever whether the mother dies in childbirth or not, or even the baby, as long as most survive. We breed quite quickly, for mammals. During a long labour, there will be other members of the tribe to protect the mother, and, should she die, they can also care for the child. Our larger brains are more of an aid than painful childbirth is a hindrance.
'course, he was drunk and nineteen, so he just kept repeating his viewpoint.
Then, in the chippy, a very tall 21-year-old decided to join in with our conversation (I was meant to go to work today, but the roads are closed for a half-marathon - it would have involved a seven mile walk uphill). I said I should just camp out there (it was 3am or so) and wait till it was time to go to work, rather than come back here just to go back there. He said "oh no my darling, you can't do that!". Then he had a go at guessing our ages; apparently, Emma looks 21, Vicky looks 24, and I look 23. In reality, Emma's 22, I'm 21 and Vicky is 30. Oddly, the 19-year-old thought I looked seventeen. Anyway, I told him my name was Diana and he kissed my hand. Emma introduced herself as Louise.
Another weird thing; when the 19-year-old found out I was half Indian, he was surprised. But, the taxi driver asked me where I came from. I assumed he was referring to my accent, which doesn't sound like people think Brummie's should, and told him I was born here. He said no, he meant originally - was I Pakistani?
The last two paragraphs just serves to demonstrate that people see what they expect or want to see. Or at least, tend to err more in that direction. White boy assumes I'm like him (and younger than him). Pakistani man assumes I'm like him.
Some of this is directly relevant to my previous post.
We started out in a Walkabout. While I was dancing, someone came over, sat at the edge of our booth and managed to spill something on my coat (my friends were still there, I didn't just abandon it). I came back and told him that he should buy me a drink to apologise. He agreed and told me I was amazingly beautiful and I must hear that a lot. I said thank you, and agreed (I think most young women in clubs hear that a lot). He told me he didn't stand a chance in hell with me, and I agreed. He ran away, which was a bit annoying. I did want a drink, I only had a tenner to spend that evening.
Thing is, the reason he didn't have a chance in hell with me was because he said he didn't. What am I supposed to do, try to convince him otherwise?
We went to the Dublinner after that, and I ended up talking to a nineteen-year-old who looked twelve. He had a theory that childbith didn't hurt because we should have evolved out of it by this point. He seemed to have misunderstood the key points of evolution - ie, that traits that help us survive longer tend to stick around.
Humanity is a tribal species. We stick to social groups. So, from the point of view of the species, it makes no difference whatsoever whether the mother dies in childbirth or not, or even the baby, as long as most survive. We breed quite quickly, for mammals. During a long labour, there will be other members of the tribe to protect the mother, and, should she die, they can also care for the child. Our larger brains are more of an aid than painful childbirth is a hindrance.
'course, he was drunk and nineteen, so he just kept repeating his viewpoint.
Then, in the chippy, a very tall 21-year-old decided to join in with our conversation (I was meant to go to work today, but the roads are closed for a half-marathon - it would have involved a seven mile walk uphill). I said I should just camp out there (it was 3am or so) and wait till it was time to go to work, rather than come back here just to go back there. He said "oh no my darling, you can't do that!". Then he had a go at guessing our ages; apparently, Emma looks 21, Vicky looks 24, and I look 23. In reality, Emma's 22, I'm 21 and Vicky is 30. Oddly, the 19-year-old thought I looked seventeen. Anyway, I told him my name was Diana and he kissed my hand. Emma introduced herself as Louise.
Another weird thing; when the 19-year-old found out I was half Indian, he was surprised. But, the taxi driver asked me where I came from. I assumed he was referring to my accent, which doesn't sound like people think Brummie's should, and told him I was born here. He said no, he meant originally - was I Pakistani?
The last two paragraphs just serves to demonstrate that people see what they expect or want to see. Or at least, tend to err more in that direction. White boy assumes I'm like him (and younger than him). Pakistani man assumes I'm like him.
Some of this is directly relevant to my previous post.