The Gentlemen Callers

A while back, a girlfriend of mine who lives in Arlington ventured into my gentrifying neighborhood. For those not from DC, Arlington is a pretty, clean, safe and mostly white suburban area right outside the majority minority DC. So needless to say, she was outside her comfort zone. Describing the experience to me a few days later, she talked of how she felt unsafe thanks to the cat calls and comments made by the men on the street. "They cat called you?" I replied, incredulous. "They don't cat call at me any more."

See, living where I do I have come to regard the comments of these "gentleman callers" as an indication of how I look on a given day or evening. One night, the first - and only - night I tried to pull off the leggings look when going out, I knew it was a good look thanks to the multiple "Girl, you look good,"-s directed at me en route from my apartment to the dance floor. In a weird way, I missed these comments while on vacation in Barcelona, where people were surprisingly reserved, and of course in England.

But this week has been a particularly flattering one from my gentleman callers. My favorite comments from the week include:

-"Damn girl, you look good!" from a bus driver as I was on my way to the metro for work.
-"This street is beautiful women central tonight," said a guy to his friend as they walked out the door of an apartment building while my alter ego friend and I walked by.
-"I've been waiting for you. You were supposed to be here five minutes ago," a guy said to me as I was exploring my neighborhood.

Never a dull moment in the city!