I've been thinking a lot lately about blushing, because it's an emotional reaction that you don't see much and kind of smacks of coquettish heroines in novels or some such, but it assuredly does happen, if only rarely.
The last time I blushed was just over a year ago. In order to understand why the situation was unusual, I need to give a bit of background. I grew up in Britain (Staffordshire, specifically), but have an American mother and came to the US some years ago where I have stayed since (somewhat against my will). I still have a very pronounced home counties accent, however, which despite popular opinion is actually a huge pain in the arse. People in the US make stupid jokes or think that it's an affectation to look cool and meet women. This kind of bollocks would bother me less if I actually did well with the ladies, but sadly that's not the case.
Point being, common perception be damned, women don't throw themselves at me because of how I talk... usually. I can only think of 2 or 3 exceptions in many years. However, last year, I was working at a liquor store (off-licence, for my fellow Brits) because I was desperate for work. We would frequently have companies that made alcoholic beverages come in to sample their new products - this was the best part of a truly rubbish job. One day, a company from Indiana that makes bourbon comes in. Bourbon is traditionally only really made in Kentucky, so this was kind of exceptional. With them, as is not uncommon, they had a woman who was blonde, huge blue eyes, very... well proportioned, etc. The buxom blonde that is lauded in cinema and screen isn't really my type, but she was a remarkably beautiful woman by anyone's measure.
At one point, I was sampling the bourbon (which was very good, and I'm not much on bourbon) and talking to the company owners, when all of a sudden this stunning woman says, very loudly, "My God, your accent is so sexy... I could listen to you talk all day." Everyone stops talking and, during the few seconds of surprised silence, I turn as red as a traffic light. Everyone else sees my complexion and starts laughing.
I ended up having a chat with this woman where she kept flirting with me. We actually ended up having a fair amount in common as she was a speech therapist as her main occupation (I'm in linguistics, myself, so you can see the link). I never saw her again after that but my coworkers were taking the mickey out of me for weeks after that because I lit up like a Christmas tree.
Anyway, there's mine... When's the last time you blushed? Don't be shy about humiliating yourself - the gossamer screen of anonymity that is the Internet protects us all.
The last time I blushed was just over a year ago. In order to understand why the situation was unusual, I need to give a bit of background. I grew up in Britain (Staffordshire, specifically), but have an American mother and came to the US some years ago where I have stayed since (somewhat against my will). I still have a very pronounced home counties accent, however, which despite popular opinion is actually a huge pain in the arse. People in the US make stupid jokes or think that it's an affectation to look cool and meet women. This kind of bollocks would bother me less if I actually did well with the ladies, but sadly that's not the case.
Point being, common perception be damned, women don't throw themselves at me because of how I talk... usually. I can only think of 2 or 3 exceptions in many years. However, last year, I was working at a liquor store (off-licence, for my fellow Brits) because I was desperate for work. We would frequently have companies that made alcoholic beverages come in to sample their new products - this was the best part of a truly rubbish job. One day, a company from Indiana that makes bourbon comes in. Bourbon is traditionally only really made in Kentucky, so this was kind of exceptional. With them, as is not uncommon, they had a woman who was blonde, huge blue eyes, very... well proportioned, etc. The buxom blonde that is lauded in cinema and screen isn't really my type, but she was a remarkably beautiful woman by anyone's measure.
At one point, I was sampling the bourbon (which was very good, and I'm not much on bourbon) and talking to the company owners, when all of a sudden this stunning woman says, very loudly, "My God, your accent is so sexy... I could listen to you talk all day." Everyone stops talking and, during the few seconds of surprised silence, I turn as red as a traffic light. Everyone else sees my complexion and starts laughing.
I ended up having a chat with this woman where she kept flirting with me. We actually ended up having a fair amount in common as she was a speech therapist as her main occupation (I'm in linguistics, myself, so you can see the link). I never saw her again after that but my coworkers were taking the mickey out of me for weeks after that because I lit up like a Christmas tree.
Anyway, there's mine... When's the last time you blushed? Don't be shy about humiliating yourself - the gossamer screen of anonymity that is the Internet protects us all.
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