In the distant past, well, really only about four
years, I wrote a blog about how men "throw lines" to begin the
process of interacting with females. It gave some sage advice, ahem, and also
mentioned how women don't throw lines (just like they don't make first contact. It's related). Anyway, I suddenly realized very recently that I
no longer throw lines.
Well, normally. If my testosterone levels go off
the scale, say in the case of a supermodel-esque female's presence, I might. For
the most part though, I instead just try to engage the female in conversation.
It could be something like, "did you see the news report about the water
in Barton Springs?" (A big issue here in Austin), or "I always drink
a cup of water when I have a beer. It's part of my "save Jay's liver
campaign."" 
Oh, sure, you could say that is still throwing a
line, but it's nowhere in the realm of "what's a super model doing here at
the local bar?" Or "you must be a thief because you've stolen my
heart" (Heard those, didn't use them). No, it's just me trying to
get someone to talk to me. No different really than if a guy sat next to me at
the bar and I wanted to do more than just drink my beer or work on a blog. i.e.
Talk.
It could be age. Maybe I'm so old (hey, no snide
thoughts there buster) that I no longer believe I have the silver tongue of
my youth or that I no longer possess the youthful imperative that young males have
to hook up. However, I think it's that I have just become more accepting of the
situation. In other words, I have the thought that if the target wants to
engage good, if not, no big deal.
In the old days, I'm positive I was the master
of throwing lines. For example, I remember telling a women drinking wine
at a brewpub: "You know it's against the law to drink wine at a beer
brewing establishment? So I'm going to have to ask you for some ID." Or
one I'm still not proud of, but it seemed to work: I made a bet with my buddy
this morning that I would meet the most beautiful woman in the world and it
looks like he owes me ten bucks."
Now, before you judge me too harshly, remember
this was the 70s-80s and Austin. Women were much different in attitude
back then and if not more accepting of goofy lines, more understanding of how difficult it is for guys making contact. Even today I trust women understand
the challenges of a guy making contact when he's alone and there are two
females or when two guys are winging it and encounter a single (nervous) woman.
I also feel obligated to mention that the venues
of those years were completely different then today. In Austin we had fantastic
and cool places to hang such as The Split Rail, The Back Room, Steamboat and
everyone's favorite The Armadillo. Ahhhh. Throwing lines at those places
was so common and expected and, well fun, that everyone just went with it.
Oops, I digress. Be careful when an
Austinite begins a sentence with "in the old days in Austin...".
Anyway, I don't do that anymore. Yes I'm older
and admittedly I'm not as successful as
in my youth, but part of the problem is that many older women still think they are teenagers. One of
my rules is that if a female I'm interested in is past the age of 35 she may no
longer play games.
Oh, you know what I'm talking about. Things like
acting coy/aloof when in fact she is interested; not willing to say more than
yes and no to the guy's questions when she really wants to tell him her life
history; unwilling to call him after they exchange numbers even though she's
already put him on speed dial. You get it.
Too many older women gripe about us dudes going
out with younger females (the reason behind my hunting tips blog) but still
want to act like the situation has not changed. Well, it has. If we have
to risk the perils and depression of rejection, why not take a chance on a
younger model? If we must always take the chance that we will become the
butt of numerous females complaints about men being animals for our brash
desire to be with a female, why not go for someone not jaded by years of relationships
they disliked but were unwilling to take a bold step and try to start a new one
on their own?
I'm sure there are other older guys out there who
still feel the imperative that tells them they must go home with a female.
However, I have encountered quite a few like me who accept that if we succeed
it's great, yet don't despair if we go home alone. After all, although it's
sure nice to wake up with a warm body beside you, it's also nice to be able to
watch football all day without someone reminding us to mow the lawn, or to be able
to drink beer late into the night and watch "Die Hard" or other
action movies instead of having wine and cheese parties.
(oh, you knew I was going to drop a Bruce Willis picture in here somewhere, right?)
So females need to drop the games and do their
part to reach out to someone or quit complaining when they see us old geezers
with a younger, partying-crazy version of themselves.
Ahhh, James Thurber!
Whew, aren't you glad this wasn't another
sidestep about police brutality or some other topical issue? Although there are
plenty of lousy things going on right now, we at The Thurber Brigade believed
we needed to get back on track. However, with the weirdness that is the Donald
Trump candidacy and the ever present police anger management-less force on the
streets, there's no guarantee that a sidestep won't reappear.
