Girls are restless to compliment you on your drip, unlike during #MeToo hysteria of several years ago

In another sign of our having left behind the vulnerable phase of the 15-year excitement cycle, with its touch-me-not #MeToo hysteria, as of 2020, I've noticed that girls are way more itching to approach you out of the blue in public and tell you they like a certain thing you're wearing, or your whole outfit, or you just look so cool, etc.

I doubt it's a change in my dressing habits, since I've worn lots of these things for years without getting complimented on them during the 2015-'19 vulnerable phase. But since 2020, as people have begun to come out of their shells (yes, in defiance of the COVID hysteria), I've noticed a striking change. I've occasionally remarked on these incidents in the comments section here, but two incidents happened almost back-to-back this week, making it feel like the topic is worth a post of its own.

A few days ago, I was wearing a variation on this sweater jacket that I found for $20 at an antique store several years ago. (My variant is more contrast-y, with brown on the collar and cuffs, and more bands of the brown geometric motif). It usually gets a compliment when I wear it, but this was the first time that someone felt compelled to say something after not seizing the opportunity when they first saw it.

At a thrift store there was a group of two girls and two guys (seemingly not their gay BFFs, not their bfs), and one of the girls was wearing a similar Cowichan kind of sweater jacket. She didn't say anything, or even give me a long stare, while in the store. Then as I'm walking away in the parking lot, I hear a girl's voice call out from behind, "I LOVE YOUR SWEATER!!!!" With a nervous intonation on "sweater," like "I mean, if it's OK for me to say that in this setting..." Of course it is, dummy. They were all at their car, at least 20-30 feet away, but she just couldn't let me get away without telling me what she had apparently been dying to tell me back in the store.

Pro-tip for girls: if you think you might ever be in a situation where you want to compliment a guy, or hit on him, or just lock eyes with him, do not be with other guys, no matter their relationship to you. You can travel with them, for protection or whatever. But if you want to hit on some other guy, they can't be nearby at that moment -- too awkward for them, and for me. They're acting as your surrogate brothers, so all of a sudden I have to look at them like, "Hey, I'm not going to fuck your sister here, don't worry," even if that is exactly the plan.

Millennials and Zoomers have been victims of helicopter parenting, though, so they never got to learn these crucial social lessons growing up, as they were locked indoors during childhood and adolescence, with only mass media to entertain them and teach them.

Then today it was really off to the races. I finally got to pimp something I picked up during the spring, when it was too warm to wear, but I knew would come in handy when it got cold. It's a black Persian lamb short-length coat with a black fur collar, similar to this one but all black. Wore it with a white button-down shirt with navy stripes, a navy wool knit tie (the skinny rectangular kind), with a silver-toned tie bar, dark brown cotton twill pants, black belt, black ankle boots, and a navy beret.

Too much drip for the wimps, I know, and I feel sorry for you, but I don't dress this way every day either, and the gestalt is still understated rather than information overload. Other than the white background of the shirt, there was not a lot of color contrast going on, so it looked more subdued than the checklist of items sounds. Only contrast in pattern and texture was on the coat itself, where the smooth sleek fur collar borders the curly springy wool shell.

This look was cool enough that I even got props from a random black guy who works at the supermarket (and was not gay), who said I've always got something cool on, albeit in different styles, but this one he had to say so personally. I didn't get the sense he was a style guy himself -- big and tall, jeans & t-shirt kind of guy. But when you make a good impression, it makes other guys want to aspire to make an impression, too.

Before then, in another supermarket (yes, one of the few hang-out-for-awhile spaces left in our decaying society), this girl walked by me, then doubled back five seconds later. "I just have to say, I love your coat..." This one definitely wanted to be noticed herself, sporting nothing more than a triangle bikini inspired top, ample cleavage and tummy. Not being a boob man, I only got distracted for a moment because I thought "it's 30 degrees outside and she's wearing nothing on top". Easily fixed my eyes on her eyes for the duration of our little chat. Me saying that I'd picked it up for cheap at a thrift store, and she mirroring with a story of her jacket that everyone loves, which she also got for nothing at a thrift store.

But the most rewarding approach was from a cutie-cute Zoomer alt-girl who works at the thrift store where I originally bought it. She and another worker were playing dress-up in front of a mirror, when I wandered near for a bit. After I had drifted a little ways away, I hear someone walk up behind me in a narrow aisle, saying, "I really love the way you look -- I mean, the coat, the hat, it's just all so cool, and, yeah...." Such a yearning, eager-to-please intonation. I mentioned that I bought it here for only $11, how crazy, right? "Yeah, I know, crazy, right?" she mirrored back to me, giggling.

I've said it since the late 2000s when I began writing about the appeal of young girls -- it's not primarily their outward physical appearance that lures you in (although that's certainly part of it). It's mainly their personality, demeanor, energy, and social-emotional style -- eager to connect, highly reactive, intense, incapable of hiding their feelings, and generally being smiley and giggly. It's just so sweet and tender, while also being exciting and stimulating, and their tinge of nervousness makes you want to protect, assure, and hug them, to say that everything's going to be cool.

They effortlessly work their way right through your defenses. Just as you can't look away from their taut glowing skin, you cannot just feel nothing in the presence of their extraverted, nervous giggling. Mother Nature designed them with a sixth sense for appealing to men, not just having ripe bods, but the way they are animated. Older women, having already married and begun to raise children, do not need to attract such attention, and their demeanor does not feel as brought-to-life.

I wonder whether she's a late '90s manic-phase birth, or an early 2000s vulnerable-phase birth. I can't tell exactly how old she is, but around college age. If she's born in the late '90s, then it's no surprise that she felt comfortable approaching a guy, being nurturing, tender, and all the other Manic Pixie Dream Girl behaviors. But if she's from the Billie Eilish cohort, it takes a lot for them to approach a random hot guy and start babbling about how cool he looks. So there's hope for them yet! :)

Only thing I regret not doing tonight is inviting them to touch the fur collar, "Go ahead and feel it -- it's real, isn't that cool?" While they're at it, they could probably not help touching the curly lambswool either. Coming out of our shells socially and emotionally is a great start, but at some point we need to get comfortable casually touching other people again, after the late 2010s refractory phase where any contact threatened to over-stimulate them and crash their nervous system.

I also thought of a potential response if one of these approachers blurts out her under-18 age, like they used to do back in the late 2000s. "Well, we're lucky there's no laws against flirting, then, eh?" with a subtle smile and wink at the end.

Anyway, what are you guys waiting for? Get your drip on, and girls will notice, and approach. At least, they'll have something heating up on the stove in case you speak to her first, and you two can hit the ground running, to mix metaphors. And no, it's not just the hot guys who will succeed here -- I'm a 10, and I didn't get frequent compliments about my outfit during the late 2010s either.

Now it's more like it was during the last restless phase of the cycle, the late 2000s, when girls were also inclined to just come right up to me with compliments and flirtation, totally unlike the early 2000s vulnerable phase, when I was in college. What a horrible time for the two sexes. But we got over it by 2005, and as of 2020 we have gotten over the late 2010s vulnerable phase. So no excuses: they're restless, you're restless, get out there and interact IRL.