Who, me?

I guess if I ever want to feel attractive, I just have to hang out with men who are at least forty years old or older.

I belong to this environmentally-based networking website, and most of my "friends" fall into that category. And they tell me how pretty I am, how "intriguing," how they would like to photograph me (that one especially creeped me out), or how they would love to get to know me--could I email them sometime? Maybe it's something about being one step removed from the person they are trying to woo that causes them to lose all sense of propriety. They don't have to be shy or (what's the masculine equivalent to "coy?"), but they can just say right out: "I think you're beautiful, and I would like to be your boyfriend."

As far as those men who boast an even BIGGER age gap, I still haven't figured that out. I've learned from hard experience that even though a man is seventy-five years my senior, it doesn't necessarily mean he is harmless. Still, the increase in years seems to be inversely proportional to tact or subtlety.

Now, I'm not certain that this attraction from men old enough to be my father, grandfather, or great-grandfather is unusual. I just keep thinking of the Rick James song: "She makes an old man wish for younger days." The thing that is unusual about my ability to attract men is that it doesn't seem to have any effect whatsoever with those in my own demographic. Is it then simply the fact that I'm so much younger that makes me attractive, or is there some other quality that the more seasoned male appreciates that is lost on the ruddy-faced lads?

Maybe I should just aim to marry some filthy rich old guy who's about to kick the bucket.