The Obama Effect?

I have not been so ready for a Friday in a long time.

It's been quite a week: getting interviewed by Good Morning America, never wanting to hear the word "lipstick" uttered by any politician ever again... and remembering September 11th. Whew, yeah, it's time to kick back, relax and write some total nonsense.

Like last night I went to the gym at 8:00 at night because I had to get a run in. So, I'm running along on the treadmill somewhere between mile two and three, totally in a "This is the best trance mix ever!" mental never-never land, when I notice two guys standing a little off to my right staring at me. My first thought was that this is why I need to pick the treadmill in the middle, not on the end of the row of treadmills. Second thought was, did I just split a hole in my pants? I did a quick pat down and nope, no holes.

After a couple of minutes they went away and I went back and finished torching four miles like it was nobody's business. Then I headed upstairs to go lift some weights and, voila, one of them reappears. You know what this guy says to me? "You looked so damn hot running down there! What's your name?"

Am I supposed to tell him my name? LOL! Whatever. So I just said, "You're so kind to say so. I'm training for a marathon," and kept it moving on the bicep curls.

He asked how often I come to the gym, told me I had amazing hair, and then says, "So, um, I feel really awkward asking you this, but would you ever consider going out with an Asian guy? I know some sistahs don't go for us, but I promise, I'm a great guy."

It made me realize that, wow, I have never been asked out by an Asian man ever in my entire life. I'm not including the half Pakistani, half Persian guy back in the day. (Goodness, he was hot!) No, I'm talking about someone from China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Singapore.

Now, he was hot but even if I was single, I wouldn't have ever thought he'd be interested in me. I've never had an Asian guy express interest in me. Never ever ever. Not even when I lived in China.

Of course, I had to turn him down and, shocker, he seemed genuinely disappointed! Times are a-changing, folks! Is it the Obama effect? Will asking black women out suddenly become cool now that Obama's on the national stage? Are we black women suddenly becoming less Angry Black Woman now? Are all men, regardless of color, so in love with Rihanna so they want to get them their own personal Ri-Ri, too?

I'm going to be mulling that one over during my morning run tomorrow. Yes, folks, I have to be out in Santa Monica at 6:15 tomorrow morning to run eight miles.

Yours truly, will be running eight miles in the morning. If you'd suggested even three months ago that I'd be leaving my house before dark to go run that sort of distance along the beach from Santa Monica to Venice and back, I would have laughed you under the table.

There's a whole lot of unbelievable going on, isn't there? And I think I like it!

Comments

Jameil said…
ha! get it girl! hilarity! i've def. seen some hot asians but never been approached by one either. hmm!! perhaps it's a new day! lol. you have fun w/that running. i can't stand when people stare at me at the gym. i usually sneer at them. lol. hmm... maybe that's why the hot asians haven't approached. lol.
Anonymous said…
Glad the marathon training's going so well. As for the Asian guy, yes, maybe it's the Obama effect. Michelle Obama, that is. Did you see that Gordon Brown got lambasted for praising Obama? As if the US government doesn't interfere in the politics of other countries non-stop!
Toni Campbell said…
i've heard that training for a marathon can bring about benefits other than fitness ones!! between that and your new career as a tv political pundit, all kind of new experiences may be right around the corner! LOL!
A beautiful woman is a beautiful woman. Period.

Don't guys look for wedding rings anymore?

Good luck with your marathon. Just being on that stretch of beach, one of my favorites in the world, would make my day!
jillybean said…
Work it! Congratulations on getting to 8 miles so quickly. Your training seems to really be going well. I'm up to 10.5 miles (walking). I hope to walk 11 miles tomorrow.
Liz Dwyer said…
Jameil
I'm having a good time with the running but about this time on Friday night I start to worry, "Can I do it?" I worry till I'm about halfway finished with the run. And then I'm alright. Sigh. And as for being stared at while I'm at the gym, half the time I'm in my own world and I don't even notice. Usually the guys are just annoying punks and just look stupid.

Nick,
Marathon training is going well but I am just trying to take it a week at a time. Yes, Michelle Obama! She's so poised, classy and beautiful. I did see about Gordon Brown getting heat for praising Obama. I thought it was ridiculous that he was criticized for that. Yet ANOTHER distraction!

Toni,
I'm going to have to do a little research to see what other sorts of benefits there may be! ;) Gosh, I would love to have a show and tell it like it is. Maybe I need a youtube show?

Heart,
Running sure makes me feel beautiful, that's for sure. I love running along the beach out there. Last week I saw a woman walking her poodle in red stilettos at 7 AM over by Shutters. It was such an LA moment. I don't think the guys look for the rings. Or maybe they think it's not a wedding ring unless they see some gigantic rock on someone's finger.

Jillybean,
The training really is going well. I'm just trying to stay healthy and be injury free. I need to step it up on the nutrition front though. And how fab that you're doing 11 miles tomorrow walking. Doesn't it feel amazing to use your body?
Very cool. I was totally into this Malaysian guy of Chinese descent. I stopped him on the streets in NYC to ask him about the painting on his leather jacket. Turns out he was an artist and such a great guy. This is just proof that Black women should stop focusing on trying to exclusively date Black men if they want to find a suitable partner and be open to any good man. I bet it's nice to know you have other prospects! Congrats on your training.
Jen said…
Some change would be good. We're sure not there, though. I was out registering voters this morning and this guy started shouting slurs at me because of my Obama buttons and it was purely racist - politics didn't even come into it. It was really disheartening.

And yeah, I know, I know, I don't go through any of the things you go through on a daily basis. It's still hard for me to focus on how sick our country (and certain individuals) can be.

Congrats on the training!
Liz Dwyer said…
Faith,
It's such a complicated subject. Black women are sent a million messages that we're not as desirable (unless it's for a role as a video ho_ and those messages get sent to everybody else too. Oh my goodness, I could write a whole post about this. I should one day soon.

Jen,
That's so great that you were registering voters this morning. (now yesterday morning?) I was talking to my mom about people yelling slurs at you and she was saying how afraid she is for Obama, how so many folks do not want a black man in the White House and that's all they can see. That's horrible and yet so unsurprising. The thing is that even though you may not have the same experiences as me, we are all damaged by the racism around us. It affects us all, including you.
Jen said…
Oh, Liz, it absolutely affects me. It's one of the main things that makes me want to move out of the States. D and I are planning to move to Canada as soon as C is out of school (he's in a GREAT school right now - an alternative, public program out of the 60s and I am NOT pulling him), because I hate the way our society is. I want to be in a place where there's much more tolerance, etc.

I think what I was trying to say is that if this hits me the way it does, I can't even imagine how it hits people who are shoved in it every single day in aggressive ways. There's almost nothing I can say that would make these words adequate.

The voter reg thing was great, for the most part, though. I met some very cool people, including some folks who are NOT citizens who felt they should have a vote anyway, given how influential the U.S. is.

The only thing any of us can do is fight against this crap.
I adore Shutters. Esp. Sunday brunch.

Was the poodle wearing red stilettos, too?
Karen said…
At this point in my (oh-so-married) life, I'd be thrilled if ANYONE showed an interest in me!

As for your experience--I'd like to think heartinsanfrancisco said--a beautiful woman is a beautiful woman. Period.
Lola Gets said…
Ive seen a lot of hot Asians, but none have ever hit on me either. I think its the size thing that gets them, and thats cool. Way to go with your training, though!

L

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