No matter how perfectly executed, the hand-kiss is always creepy.

And "decently attractive" is not attractive enough. Drop-dead-gorgeous radiant matinee idol legendarily handsome is more the level I find appropriate.

Well, at least your email address.
OK, your fake email address.

he was gay.

(off topic)

E: i'm now officially trolling for employment. thoughts?

Just anecdotal evidence, but both of the hand-kissy guys I have known in my life were seven kinds of fucked up.

Doesn't mean he was. But your Uncle Tamerlane doesn't think you should be casual about giving out phone numbers on such minimal acquaintance. And I'm sure your mom would agree :D. Meanwhile...

Men are far less complicated than women make them out to be.

Bah! I'm ever sooooo complicated. Complex, even. That eternal question - internet porn or computer games? - is far more involved than one might guess at first glance ;).

i'm now officially trolling for employment. thoughts?

Utter shot in the dark, as I haven't the slightest idea what you do, want, or where you live. But a friend is hiring for this job, THIS week and hasn't liked the ten candidates she's talked to so far.

if it helps, double major in mechanical engineering and international studies (focus on North Africa) with minor in Business Administration (I like to call it the holy engineering trinity). experience up the wazoo (for someone my age) and with an eye on managment.

Ah. We're always hiring engineers, but mostly of the civil variety and I doubt you'd find it rewarding work. Government drudgery in the water/wastewater field, albeit with decent benefits.

Tamerlane: you aren't, by chance, involved in Engineers Without Borders, are you?

Not even close, sorry :). Municipal government and I've got close to zero hiring pull in my own department, let alone in engineering.

haha gotta love working for the Muni. had you been part of the SanFran EWB professionals chapter, i would have made fun of you for not getting the conference this year.

Getting back to the topic at hand, or kissing hands, as it were...

Could be creepy. Could also be randomly generated via culture and the like. Is probably at least a bit odd. But then maybe a little oddity is up your alley.

For some reason thought you were otherwised engaged--that is, with significant other. Something about a techie type. Might be out-dated info at this point.

In any event, if the market is open, it seems like one should take advantage where reasonable opportunity exists. Or at least that's what somebody recently told me, more or less.

your Uncle Tamerlane doesn't think you should be casual about giving out phone numbers on such minimal acquaintance.

Ah, but this is one of the myriad situations in which cell phones are MUCH handier than landlines - much more difficult to find out where the holder of the number actually lives. Heck, what with free nationwide roaming these days, I've got a number of friends who live in entirely different time zones from the area codes on their cell phones.

We'll convert you yet. :-) Next year in Istanbul, perhaps?

Ha, Eerie flustered, never thought I'd see the day..

Smooooth...and who knows about the hand-kissing, really, it could have been something that he did uncharacteristically because he was hot for you, or it could be his standard move on tons of women at said dodgy club every week. The fact that he didn't ask for your number may suggest that he's not single...

Funny isn't it how creepy men are always drawn to groups of women who are out having a girls' night thankyouverymuch and are specifically *not* scoping out the guys? Where are the fab SATC type clubs where the girls can chat and drink in peace with a few unattached attractive nicely dressed chappies hovering at a respectful distance to be picked up or not, at one's leisure?

dear e,

he might've just been THAT chivalrous. he might've been influenced by cultures where handkisses are still normal (poland comes in mind). he might've been amused by the situation and decided to play that role. and even IF it was his very special way to distinguish himself from the morons ... you have to acknowledge that you (a.k.a. "ice queen") thought it was sweet and appreciated it.

hell, it's something i've done ...

you could've just flat-out asked him "is this your way to pick up women or are you just THAT nice?" and, depending on his answer & the ensuing short conversation, decided to give him your number or not.

now ... you'll NEVER know.

--raf*

Blue: For some reason thought you were otherwised engaged--that is, with significant other. Something about a techie type. Might be out-dated info at this point.

I was, months ago.

Meph: Ha, Eerie flustered, never thought I'd see the day..

Not flustered, just perplexed. His approach didn't work, but it wasn't laughably bad or transparent the way 90% of them are.

Actually, if he'd been wearing a suit...

SP: ...where the girls can chat and drink in peace with a few unattached attractive nicely dressed chappies hovering at a respectful distance to be picked up or not, at one's leisure?

Yes, exactly. Like hors d'ouvres. Oh look, I'm Sheikh Hilali now.

Raf: He didn't seem to be Euro, even though that is generally a slimy Euro/Med move. Kissing my hand wasn't what distinguished him anyway, just another odd thing about his approach (if it was an approach, or simply chivalry).

you could've just flat-out asked him "is this your way to pick up women or are you just THAT nice?"

Eh, I didn't want to give my number, so had no reason to introduce that issue.

> Should I have given him my number?

> Eh, I didn't want to give my number...

Well, if you didn't want to, then presumably you shouldn't. Unless you have that odd sort of delusion that sufficient effort on the part of a suitor makes you duty-bound to sacrifice your privacy and better judgment.

Of course, the curious question is "Why didn't you want to?"

dear e,

you just contradicted yourself. you claim that you didn't want to give him your number, yet had - in the post - asked whether you should've. also ... as for his approach ... you even said that "actually, if he'd been wearing a suit..."

the euro handkiss thing mustn't necessarily be slimy. well-done, it can be quite gallant and even flattering. it always depends on whether it's a sincere thing or not.

and now you'll never find out.

--raf*

> you just contradicted yourself. you claim that you didn't want to give him your number, yet had - in the post - asked whether you should've.

That is not a contradiction. One was a statement (that she didn't want to) the other was a question (whether she should have).

For example, she might *want* to beat you with a stick for being a broken record ("Polly says you'll never know now, RAWWWWK!") but rational civility implies that she *should* not.

Yes, with solid logical reasoning, blue92 refuted your argument entirely, by employing classic philosophical methods of deduction. Of course, that does not resolve the initial dilemma of free will that eerie faced, I'm sure John Stuart Mill would say. So should we go down Hegelian analysis, or pursue a more Anglicised approach? I recently read this book about Disraeli....

dear blue92,

yes, you're absolutely correct. all apologies to you, to eerie, and to whoever else i might've inconvenienced and/or offended.

this might happen when writing in a language that isn't one's first. i promise to try to be better next time.

--raf*

Raf: and now you'll never find out.

I'm hardly going to agonize over a complete stranger simply because he kissed my hand. Can't even recall his face now.

Also, the suit thing is quite simple. Men in suits are more attractive to me. Call it a fetish.

blue: Of course, the curious question is "Why didn't you want to?"

Not sure, just didn't have the urge really.

Sorry, Klaus, I'm an empirical determinist, hence I do not accept that Eerie had any such *true* free-will dilemma.

However, within the context of the unknowable determinancy, an ignorant, partial explanation of causes may be useful in providing a subject with the illusion of self-control and positive "change" over his situation, such that the positive benefits of the free-will delusion makes it destined to occur and drive the subject toward various actions and desires. . . .

Et cetera.

Re: the bar scene: I guess it could have been worse.

I just found your dream man. Sadly, he isn't much of a looker.

People at the office have been looking at me funny because I'm all flushed and disheveled. What am I supposed to tell them, that I just had the most fantastic and mind-blowing shower session discussing the inevitable failure of our attempts to diplomatically isolate Iran? Yeah, right.

Hahaha