Dear Valeria, I am a 21 year old boy and this summer on holiday in Sardinia, I made friends with a girl, one thing led to another, I invite her for an aperitif and then… an invitation to the pizzeria. We talk about this and that and then I invite her to take a drive along the coast of the Costa Smeralda. But having a romantic soul, I didn’t want to get to the point straight away. Then I hear myself say «There are two options: you’re shy or you’re gay. And I hate both categories!» then looking me in the eyes he says «I hope you don’t intend to make me do the circumnavigation of Sardinia, you know, we people from Brianza don’t like pleasantries very much so I ask you not to waste any more of my time!». I was stunned. I thought for a minute about agreeing to her request but I preferred to take her back to town! Of course she took revenge by spreading falsehoods about me all over the beach!
Sincerely AM
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Dear AM, I knew the pragmatic side of the Brianza people but I didn’t know that it extended, in such an intransigent way, to all aspects of life (at least for some of them). Thanks to her friend, we discovered it too. What can I say? He came across as a determined woman, probably even too determined but keep in mind that I am speaking to her from an obsolete generation intimidated by a thousand conditionings. I can reflect on the fact that what struck me most, and favorably, was his reaction of sacrosanct respect towards the girl and himself. Such an attitude (like that of your friend, I mean) on the part of a man would probably have been comparable to harassment, but honestly, I find such brutal hastiness in certain matters repulsive even on the part of a woman. Still from the Pleistocene in which my youth is contained, I can tell you that sex unadorned by everything else is truly a small thing.
So don’t regret your choice that night for even a moment and above all don’t listen to the falsehoods about you that are spread on the beach. The sand is now damp. And above all you are, evidently, a man who knows how to treat a woman and this is exactly the reputation he must strive for. Happy next summer.