So I was in this loud and fun bar in Germany last week with a couple of friends, and this one really cute girl somewhat nearby me kept looking at me and smiling, poking her friends to say something, looking back, and so on.
I smiled back, of course, and was tempted to actually go over and buy her a drink or something equally chivalrous/stereotypical/dumb, when she leaned over and said something to me.
I understand some German, but it’s been years since I lived in Germany and it was hard to hear her over the din. I politely asked her to repeat what she said, and she did so, but I was still puzzled.
One of the friends I was with noticed the confusion and helpfully translated. “She wants you to take a picture of her and her friends” he said.
Now I was even more confused. I didn’t have a camera (my wonderful Olympus 3030z was stolen in Estonia and not yet replaced), so I didn’t know what she could be talking about.
Then, as I realized that I was holding my somewhat-biggish Palm phone in my hands, it hit me. She thought I had one of those camera phones!
I explained back to her that, sorry, it was a Palm phone, not a camera phone. Blank look. I clarified, no, it cannot take pictures.
She looked at me with an expression of distinct disappointment after learning that I had a geek phone, not a camera phone. It was clear that being able to surf the net and access my appointments and to do list and even play Bejeweled wouldn’t win back her interest or attention.
I went back to drinking with my friends, humbled, saddened, and single.
What do you think?