When I wear this skirt

This morning at the local cafe, a middle-aged man asked me to verbally guide him as he put a round band-aid on a sore on his cheek. This was my first time taking part in such an activity, and the band-aid wound up just above the wound, with the sticky edge covering the edge of his ouch.

This may be the most extreme example of random gentlemen talking to me in public spaces since I've returned to Minneapolis. I should also point out that the frequency of such events increases significantly when I wear a skirt, and every single time I go out alone wearing one particular skirt, at least one strange man speaks to me. Same skirt, different strange man.

About three weeks ago, while wearing the skirt, I was locking up my bicycle at the public library, when a gentleman came up to me and said hello. His main point of discussion, as far as I understood it, was that he appreciates that women exist. For future reference, is "thank you" an appropriate response to such a conversation? He then pointed out how similar we were, since we had both ridden our bicycles to the library that day.

Last week, walking up my street (wearing the skirt) to drop off a piece of mail, I passed two men going the other direction. When I made eye contact, one said to me: "Hey! I like your hair!"

Is there something reflective in the skirt that stimulates one's vocal cords? Does it have a Y-chromosome magnet? It's true that I never wore this skirt in Bristol, so perhaps it would have attracted the same response. But to be fair, random men hardly ever spoke to me in the UK, so I think perhaps it is a cultural thing. I have somehow tapped into a surefire way to attract unwanted, though not yet offensive, male attention.

But I'm not giving up the skirt. It's comfy. It's black and stretchy and goes with anything and I can ride my bike in it without flashing anyone. So there.