Penny Lover
It’s amazing how a song can bring back memories from a distant place in your past. At my place of employment there is always music playing. For a time we had the listening pleasures of smooth jazz, but here recently we have been jamming to the golden oldies of the 80’s. Artists such as Billy Ocean, Hall & Oates, and Michael McDonald can be heard as we go about our daily tasks.
It’s funny how I hear the same songs over and over again and how I often catch myself singing along to the melody – sometimes even bobbing my head and tapping my feet. On one particular day, I heard the voice of Lionel Richie singing a song that I was really not paying any real attention to. As the song continued, a memory from my past came to my mind and I had a moment where I was chuckling to myself.
What was the memory, you may ask. Remember way back in the day if I guy liked you he would call and play one of his favorite slow jams very loudly in the background for you to hear. I guess this was his way of saying how he felt about you without actually having to say how he felt (you get my drift?). Ohhhh, the memories. Well, when I was in the elementary school, only a few years ago, one of my classmates called me, as I guess we called ourselves courting. We had to be in about the 4th or 5th grade (if memory serves me correctly). And I am going to assume that my parents were not home, because I can’t imagine my dad ever wanting me to talk to boys on the phone, not even now. Anyway, I remember him trying to talk all deep, while trying to make me laugh. All of a sudden I hear Penny Lover by Lionel Richie blasting in the background. (Side Note: What in the world is a Penny Lover?) I think the louder the music got, the deeper he tried to talk. I can say that the courtship was short-lived, but the memory lasted forever…
I heard the song again today and it made me think about the days when a guy would genuinely show a girl that he was interested in her. Be it corny or not, the song playing in the background was actually a nice gesture. In my opinion, courting/dating was so much easier back then, because boy saw girl, boy asked for girls number, boy called girl, and the rest was history.
Nowadays it seems that a lot of good guys have been turned down and rejected so much that they are afraid to go after the woman that they really want. This often leaves many women dazed and confused because we are taught that we are to be pursued, so if we know that a guy is interested we may hold back because he has not made the first move. And even sometimes when he does build up the courage to say something, the woman may be so caught off guard that she doesn’t know how to respond. And now we have two individuals who are really interested in one another but neither of them wants to risk having their feelings hurt.
Rejection is never fun, but how will you ever know what could happen if you never even tried. In my opinion, there are way too many ways for a guy to tell a girl how he feels. Although I prefer the direct approach, you know, hey girl, how you doing, my name is Charlie, last name Wilson…if that is too much for a guy, there are alternatives. In these days of technological advancements, a guy could email, text, facebook, tweet, snail mail, or even send a smoke signal. The whole point is, just tell her how you feel…you never know where the road may lead you….she just could be your Penny Lover…
So Guys, build your courage up and go get that girl…
