In this case, "Hot Mama" means "Mama with a fever."

Had the strangest day last Friday.

Whilst recovering from the head cold that laid me low for much of the week, I did my best to just show up and stay upright at work. I work in a public building, so I get to meet and greet people of all types, whether I want to or not.

In comes a young man, probably about 21, cooling his heels while he waits for the other person he's with to finish their business. He's typical of young men in this neck of the woods, meaning redneck and naive, and to that end is wearing a broad-rimmed black cowboy hat, black leather motorcycle jacket, and black cowboy boots, fully trimmed in silver. The boots must have cost a fortune, and since I am all about the shoes I made note of them, especially since he had trimmed them with a boot chain made to resemble a bullet holster, complete with silver bullets. If you could cookie-cutter the vast majority of young men in the countryside around here, he would be the prototype.

So he's chatting me up, and I'm trying to be polite and yet offputting, because my head is a balloon and everything seems sort of otherworldly to me. After about 15 minutes of conversation, he gets to the money question: "are ya married?"

Sadly, yes, and you, young sir, are probably young enough to be my kid. But you're cute and thanks for the ego stroke. Now run along.

(I've got to give the kid credit though, for looking to swim outside his gene pool.)

Later that evening, I was at the liquor store (of course!) buying beer to go with our pizza, and the young man behind the counter starts in with the flirting.

What the hell...?

I know none of this is due to my drop dead gorgeous looks, though I suppose there is a certain contingent of young men who find red chapped noses and puffy eyes to be attractive. Low standards, to be sure. The only standard sexy thing I've got working right now is the Kathleen Turner-esque husk in my voice, so maybe that's the attention-grabber.

I only wish I felt better, so I could have enjoyed the attention rather than being puzzled and somewhat annoyed by it.




-- Mox