So on Thursday night I spent time with two of my most favoritest guys ever, and I realized something: It’s awesome when people are nice to you.

I guess I, as I suppose a lot of us do, tend to get so involved; working hard, going fast, I don’t even bother to deal with how I feel or what I need. It’s like those days when you forget to have lunch (excuse the overly-used metaphor of emotional starvation). You see the same people every day and are just supposed to assume that they still like you (or that they ever did for that matter). You forget that you deserve that reassurance.

As a girl, I think it feels especially good when guys are nice to you. Not in a flirtateous way, on the contrary, it’s the lack of lust that makes the situation so good. Pardon me if this is anti-feminist (I don’t think it is, but whatever), but it’s nice to be treated like a lady. Not like you’re helpless, but that there’s a guy who cares about you, who’s looking out for you without any alterior motive. It’s nice to feel safe, to let down your guard a little bit and trust someone else to take care of you, not because you can’t, but because they can.

It’s not often that other people take care of me. I’ve always been the mother hen. Gotta be tough, gotta protect, gotta keep the front up. Not that I want all of that to change…but it’s so refreshing to be with people who don’t think of me like that. Contrast the lines I usually hear from my guys friends:
Don’t kick my ass
You talk like a man
You’re so scary
You suck at (fill in the blank)
I’m sorry, Don’t hit me!
Go kill him/her for me

With the lines I heard repeatedly that night:
Are you having fun, Cecilia?
Don’t worry
That’s my girl!
I’m so glad you’re here
You’re fun
You’re so cute!
I don’t think anyone in IFA has EVER referred to me as “cute”
Not to mention the:
You’re absolutely not going home late at night by yourself. I don’t care if you think you’ll be ok.
And of course, the next day, the previously unheard of:
That was fun last night

It’s not that the whole night was filled with daisies and rainbows, just a few nonchalant comments. So why did it impact me so much that 4 days later I’m writing about it?

I guess I had just forgotten what it was like to have people be nice to me.

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