Monday, June 18, 2007

Eyeing the cradle

My class has ended. It was a good group of people. Most of the class together has been together for multiple course, so there 's a great rapport among the majority. It gave the class a lighter attitude and provided a comfortable atmosphere. As one guy commented, he's not here for the grade, he's here because it's a place to meet interesting people who may be different.

One guy I noticed from last quarter is Shanghai. He always sat on the opposite side of the room from me, but he articulate voice and perfect pronunciation got my attention. There's a certain type of guy that I am attracted to very quickly, and he fits that mold. He's young, Asian, and I like his glasses. I get a sense he is passionate about his interested, and he seems very smart. Well, okay, sometimes he's asked odd questions which demonstrate either he's not paying close attention in class or there are things about life about which he's still somewhat clueless.

Alas, one day, he did his oral presentation and talked about how he still laments over the Transformers toy that his mother made him give to a younger cousin. The minute he expressed his interest in Transformers and boasted over the fact that his Optimus Prime was an original, I knew he had to be almost a decade younger than me. Eeck. I really felt old.

"Damn," I thought, "this is what it's like when my guy friends fawn over cute young girls?" We make fun of BurningMan because he prefers dating younger women. He's 33. His last girlfriend was 25. At first, he freaked out to learn she was that much younger. He even considered breaking it off. But he got over that, and they even lived together for six months before she headed out for her Peace Corps project. Lately, friends say interested in girls who are barley out of college. He's not a creepy guy necessarily, just unconventional. The point is, dating too far outside of my age range just seems weird. It's not me.

Still, I think about Shanghai. Nothing wrong with browsing right? In this current session, Shanghi hasn't been around much. I think he's been studying for a professional exam, so he's only been showing up for quizzes and presentations. He recognizes me, he says "hello," but we don't really chat much. Sigh, how I wish I were 26 again. Pickings aren't as good at my age. Only in hindsight do I feel like there were so many more choices back then.

4 comments:

teahouse said...

Hey, it's not true!! You have JUST as many choices now and then. You must keep a positive attitude.

And is this guy from Shanghai, or is that just your name for him?

Pandax said...

THB, technically, he is, but he came over very young so he's essentially American.

Sitcomgirl said...

There is nothing wrong with younger guys. More and more I catch myself checking out how cute the ones in thier mid-20's are. Not sure how much there would be in common, but it can't hurt to flirt right?

Pandax said...

The sad thing is that, despite all my years, when I see guys I like I still feel totally clueless about how to flirt without being totally obvious. Nothing's changed in a decade... ;)