What are you doing to these men?

The other day I was sitting at the computer when my roommate came home. She was walking to her room and on the way said to me, "I'm supposed to tell you a message that Mr. Horny has the hots for you." And that's where it all begins.

Not only was I confused, but I had no idea what she was talking about. "I'm sorry?" My facial expression alone was not going to explain my thoughts on the subject. I did not know a Mr. Horny, or if this was a pseudonym for a person we knew, or anything about what had just happened. She continued, "Nan said to tell you that one of the guys from the airport that you talked with on the employee shuttle came up to her at Jamba Juice this morning and asked about you. She said his name is Mr. Horny."

For serious? I had to wait a couple of days for Nan to tell me more about this situation. Basically it was as my roommate said. Except Nan also added she had offered to help Mr. Horny out, and that he said he would work his way up to approaching me in his own time. She also said that he could see me from his station at work, though I did not know I was being watched.

I still had no idea who this Mr. Horny was. Nan couldn't describe him very well, and the only other person who knew him wouldn't be at work for another couple of days. My days of anticipation grew, as did my slight paranoia that I was being watched from afar and couldn't do anything about it. From what our other coworker had expressed to Nan, it wasn't going to be good.

Finally, today I was able to interrogate our other coworker. She expressed concern, but one that was hard to explain. "It's not that he's creepy, but I get this vibe from him that's hard to explain." I finally figured out which one was Mr. Horny. He was reading a Twilight book on the bus once and I took note because I do not know many men who read Twilight books. Occasionally we are on the same shuttle together, but not to my knowledge do I address him any differently than other shuttle riders.

Our other coworker asked me, "What are you doing to these men? They keep falling in love with you!" Well, shoot. "I had no idea this was going on," I replied. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm oblivious when it comes to men." She added, "Well, you've got quite the fan club over there." How was I supposed to know that I was irresistible? I would play it up more if I did.

One thing I've noticed about working at the airport is that many people think of women working for airlines as little flirts. Many passengers, specifically male passengers, think they are getting special treatment from us. Most of the time it's not the case. There have been a few times, I'll admit, that I've flirted back or provided a little extra attention, but what's the point of trying to get a phone number from someone you may never see again?

Starting a relationship with someone at the airport wouldn't bother me, but how am I supposed to know they are interested if they never approach me? I suppose I could do the approaching... time to balls-up, I guess. Life was so much easier before technology, when men couldn't get distracted by video games or text messages and did better at communicating with women in person; now it's an additional layer of complication and a double strike against talking to girls.