It's astounding how, now with the scales off my eyes, so many things take on a new perspective. Here is a story from a long ago in my past that has puzzled me for years. It's now clear.

Now, it used to be said that men never ask for directions. You young folks may not realize this but in the days when there was no GPS, you navigated with maps, you'd get lost all the time, and you'd stop periodically to ask for directions when you got lost.

The cliche was that of a couple driving around lost, the wife nagging the husband to ask for someone for directions and the man refusing while going around in circles.

...

Well, when I was still in school, I went to a concert with some folks. One of the guys, who was a friend of a friend, was a tall, alpha-looking guy. Very handsome, solid. His girlfriend was breathtakingly beautiful. She was an exchange student from Sweden, and looked like Heather Locklear, or maybe a bit more good looking. I kid you not. Way out of my league (I'll get to that in a sec.)

Well, after the concert, we were supposed to take the train back but there was some sort of a problem, and thousands of people were stranded.

To my surprise, he panicked, and asked me (not sure why) in a squeaky voice, "oh my god, what should we do now?" It shook me up, because I had never experienced a 6'3" alpha guy asking me what to do, basically looking to me for guidance. It changed my whole estimation of the guy. I didn't know back then why this was a shock to me.

After that, the girl kept on sidling up to me and engaging me - which in retrospect might have been flirting.

So... I'm thinking a guy asking another guy for help, such as for directions, may trigger a similar reaction in women. Even men perhaps.