Plan B Forum

Yesterday I was driving to St Just to get a few items from the shop there. Just where the hamlet road hits the main road was a young person hitchhiking.

Having been a hitchhiker myself when younger, I always try to offer a lift if the person doesn't look to dodgy. Hereabouts we get many young impecunious people, a lot of them students, visiting for the surfing/climbing/social scene or looking for seasonal work, and I've had some great chats, made a few friends even, by offering lifts.

So this person jumps in, and is going to St J to meet up with mates, and we have a great chinwag about the local scene, (they were local,) and some upcoming festivals and gigs they were interested in seeing. I explained that what with me being old, and a curmudgeon,festivals are a long past thing for me. We talked about bands, and the shit winter which seems to be over running into spring here.

I dropped them in the square in St J, and we parted. The conversation had certainly been enjoyable, except for one thing; I wasn't sure if it was a boy or a girl I was addressing. They certainly surfed, were 17 years old, and I know their parents on a "nod in the pub" way.

But I felt awkward not knowing if they were a boy or a girl, or other, let alone which bus they catch. These days with political correctness, and sexual politics, being so volatile I didn't want to put my bloody great foot in it.

How do you ask a stranger when you don't know what sex they are?

There probably isn't an unawkward way to ask, and what difference does it really make unless you are planning to invite him/her to have sex with you?

Ask thier name and hope it’s not Chris or Pat.

Stop at a pub and suggest going to the bathroom together

Here are a couple of questions you could ask them:

"If you tell someone about a problem you're having, do you expect them to actually suggest a possible solution, or are you just venting and looking for a supportive response?"

or:

"If you're upset with someone about something, do you expect them to figure out what's bothering you without you actually telling them?"

Or just buy them a couple of pints and see which door they go through. (Unless the loos are unisex...)

You could also try asking them how they feel about Meg Ryan movies...

Just say, "Dontcha just hate it when your balls itch?" and wait for a reaction.

"I'm just nipping into the shops, would you mind parking the car for me?"