Guys with accents are great.
Creepy strangers who hit on you? Not great.
Summer of 2014, my parents and I went on a two week vacation to Europe-- one week in London, one week in Paris. In the course of our time overseas, I was hit on in London, my mom was hit on in Paris (in front of my dad), and my mom and I were both simultaneously (and rather subtly) hit on in London.
The first incident was in a typical tourist shop. You know the kind... "I [heart] London" shirts, mugs, magnets, etc. filling the shelves, as well as some other insignificant trinkets. Of course, we were tourists, so we had to check it out, at least briefly.
I remember my parents walking over to look at some area of the store with oven mitts and the like, leaving me in a different part of the store. I collect keychains, and have for a majority of my life, so naturally I wanted to browse the keychain racks. So there I was, minding my own business, picking through the keychains, when some random guy walks up and stands about two or three feet away. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. Normally, two people next to each other in a store would continue perusing the store's wares without paying mind to each other. But nooo-- this guy decides to stand there, in his close proximity, and stare at me while I'm looking at keychains.
Ok.You've done your looking, now please move along. I'm flattered. Truly. But please go away. I thought.
Nope!
This dude still stands there staring at me until eventually he speaks up.
"I see you like keychains," he started awkwardly, in some thick foreign accent.
Good observation. Truly genius.
"Uh-huh," I answered, checking price tags on some of the keychains, still not looking at the man.
Then, he decided to speak up again.
Did he ask if I collect? Did he ask if he could help me, as if he were an employee? Did he ask if I could move so he could see the keychains?
Nope, nope, nope.
"I'm very attracted to you," he said bluntly.
"Ok," I replied uncomfortably.
Not wanting to hear what he had to say next, I stopped looking at the keychains and made a beeline for my parents. Luckily, the guy left after that. It would have been one thing if he simply told me, "hey, you're pretty," but something about the way he creepily said, "I'm very attracted to you" raised some red flags.
The time my mom was hit on in Paris was even creepier.
Now, let me provide you with a little background information on my dad. He grew up in Brooklyn, and his job requires him to travel more than the average person, so my dad is more than just accustomed to cities. He can read a subway map almost instantly and know which stops to get on and off of in order to reach his destination.
Mom, Dad and I were riding the Metro in Paris, and through our time in Europe, I began to pick up the maps of the Tube (London) and the Metro (Paris). I wasn't as quick as my dad, but I figured it out over time. Then, there was my mom. Every time we were between stops, she wanted to look at a map and really process things. I understand that-- the last thing anyone would want is to get lost in a foreign country. However, my dad is a fast-paced individual, and if you don't process the map quickly, it's in your best interest to just follow him anyways.
When we were sitting on the Metro, we ended up in a spot with four seats-- two and two, and they were facing each other. Dad and I were sitting next to each other, and mom sat across from me. Some random man sat next to her. It's not a big deal-- the Metro fills up pretty quickly. He proceeded to pull out his phone and scroll through some webpages.
Dad and I started picking on Mom, talking about how if we got separated, she would have no clue how to read the map and find our hotel.
You know what that guy next to her said?
"I can help you find your hotel."
It isn't like she was genuinely lost. We made it very clear that we were all a family, and that she would only struggle to find the hotel if she got separated from us. She was right in front of us. This guy was not trying to be nice and offer to assist my mother. He was alluding to something else that we aren't going to discuss today.
I don't even remember if/how we responded to that one.
I think we just laughed, hoping that the guy was joking.
The last situation was the only one where the guys weren't creepy. And yes, I said "guys," plural.
While in London, we decided to go on the London Eye, which is essentially a gigantic ferris wheel with glass pod rooms instead of standard seats. The ride takes about half an hour for a full rotation, allowing time for tons of photos of London from high up. Each pod fit about a dozen or so people, and we ended up in a pod with a group of men from Bangladesh. Cool! I'm all for meeting people from other countries, provided the people are nice.
While we were on the London Eye, one of the men in the group started talking to my mom and myself. He was a friendly guy who asked us where we were from, what brought us to London, etc. He told us him and his friends were from Bangladesh and were just visiting as tourists. He then asked if he and his friends could take a picture with us. I'm not even sure I can consider this last one an act of them "hitting on us," or if it's normal for them to take pictures with strangers-- particularly two blondes.
We just met, but whatever.
Mom and I agreed to it, and the guy's friends were all smiles when they gathered around us for a picture. Guess who offered to take the picture?
My dad.
We smiled for a couple pictures, the guys politely thanked us and they went about their business walking around the pod taking pictures of the view of the city. Once they were out of ear shot, dad whispered to both of us.
"You're international hotties, now."
