And I thought that was a cliche

I got to spend yesterday afternoon and evening with Belladonna.  We ran into some of her acquaintances over the course of the evening.

At one point she offered the information, "I would go out with him, if he asked."

I was surprised.  I don't want to give anybody the idea that Belladonna is 'picky'.  Rather, Bella has standards and she applies them up front.

She does not have very much free time and she is not about to waste it on a scoundrel, a drunk, a wastrel, a slacker an abuser or a fool.  She has seen too many of her friends become emotionally invested into bottomless sinks and she is not going to open up her heart to somebody like that, not even a little bit.

Not too many decades ago three-quarters of the men between ages 16-and-30 would have fallen in the 'acceptable' silo but things have changed and the bottomless sinks outnumber the 'acceptable' risks.

So I was surprised when Bella casually announced, "I would go out with him..."

I asked "Why him?"

Bella looked at me like I was daft.  "I already told you.  Mr Terrific has a fishing boat with a trolling motor."

***

On a slightly different note, some of Bella's friends were debating the differences between "hillbillies" and "rednecks".

The winning definition was "A 'redneck' is a 'hillbilly' who now lives in a house with a septic tank."