The People I Meet

I couldn't tell if it was a serious inquiry or a come-on.

"Do you like chocolate?" he asked with a grin, his hair neatly plaited in tight cornrows.

We both walked down Vine Street on a sunny, Thursday morning. A kick in my step and a swagger in his.

He looked to be about 23-years-old, his jeans slung low on his hips and his red athletic jersey loose on his lean frame.

"Well, of course I do! Doesn't every girl like chocolate?" I offered a friendly but reserved smile as I responded with no hesitation and no innuendo.

"But have you ever been dipped in chocolate?" His grin gave way to wicked intimation, and I knew I was getting hit on and complimented at the same time.

My smile grew as I shook my head, waving off the proposition as messy and tough to clean up.

And then he asked me if I'd ever dated a black guy.

I responded well, sure, and he asked me what the difference was between a black man and a white man.

Skirting around the expected answer, I told him every man I'd ever dated was different from the previous one.

I've dated black men, white men, Asian men, Indian men, British men, Yanks and Southerners. I've dated attorneys and college drop-outs. Boomers and Gen Y types.

My dating history has run the gamut.

"It doesn't matter what color they are," I told my brief walking partner. "The thing is, each man is infinitely different from another, and their color or race or ethnic origin is but one characteristic of their being."

He told me he was single, but that he has a friend. And that's when we talked about the ideal scenario - finding someone who can also be your best friend and your partner.

When he asked me my relationship status, I gave him my canned I-have-a-boyfriend answer, the answer I've given any time I've been asked by someone I meet on the street.

"Well, that's a damn shame. Because I think you and I could have been great friends."

I'm pretty sure there was a double meaning in there, but I didn't mind.

A friendly and deep exchange with a complete stranger. Two people living dramatically different lives but walking in the same circle of life.

It was actually a special moment.


Kate's Random Musings by Kate the Great is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.