Communicating back and forth with each other, and lately, by email. Such a nice feeling; knowing even when he's so tired, he looks forward to hearing from me and that he takes the time to write--so beautifully too! He's so far and yet so near. And so I wrote again. And so he replied again...
Dear C...knee deep in work at the moment. Reading my notes one by one, writing with one hand, and with the other checking my email every five minutes, until, yes, until three this morning, when my eyes would not operate any longer, my pen was scribbling across the pages, and I decided to go mercifully to bed...I checked one last time, and, yes, there was what I was waiting for, a message from you. I couldn't believe my good fortune, the blood was pelting, my heart was beating faster and I opened your lovely message...
I could have written massage, and it would still have been "le mot juste"...a massage of the mind and heart, a message for tired eyes...and I read it, so hungrily, I did not tear through it. It was like a really, really nice bottle of Barbera Superiore, it has to breathe and in breathing, it mellows out, and so it was with your letter. There were so many subtleties of taste, (like your lips...) so many layers of loveliness (like your body...) so many hidden valleys where no man is king. I could not take enough time reading it. But I did, once, and then twice...and then I closed my eyes, and saw you...and then I went to bed...
and now, now I will write, even though it is so early in the morning, and I am on my way to work. I want you to have this first thing...More later, love...
Love, J. And so I wait...
This seems to be { Leah McLaren's } warning after her few "typical" dates with English men who are purported to be, as Leah states, "the worst lovers on the planet."
The Excerpt:
"After going out with roughly a dozen single men in London" says Leah who moved from Canada to the UK, "I have come to the conclusion that the modern English male knows little to nothing about courtship, and what he does know frightens him."
She states moreover that "The most common English male dating crime by far is the Non-date Date. This is a strange ritual wherein the English male asks a woman out on a date without indicating that he has any romantic inclinations towards her. Any overt demonstration of desire might make her think he likes her — this is verboten. The Non-date Date is initiated in various sneaky, cowardly ways, but the preferred method is text messaging.
Let me preface this by explaining that in North America the typical situation is this: you meet a guy at a party and exchange numbers. A few days later he calls you up and asks if you would like to have dinner with him. In England things are different. You meet a guy a party and exchange numbers. A few days later you get a text message that reads something like ‘Out 4 drnks 2nite in W11 — wnt 2 join?’ "
"...While the English man beats nervously around the bush, the American suitor goes for the female jugular...If single men wish to find some common ground with their female compatriots, they would be well-advised to overcome their fears. Let me put this message in a more accessible format for the English male: LRN 2 WLTZ. "
