Dear Advice Giver,

I encountered you on the bus. You're probably around my father's age, a bit more gray hair and a visible receding hairline. Dressed pretty simply, dress shirt paired with jeans that looked way too stiff. Now, I didn't say anything to you and you was sitting in front of me on the bus. And then you decide to turn around and start talking to me.

Y: You won't get a nice decent man to marry you if you continue to dress like a slut.
M: [I slowly pull my earbuds out at this, I thought I misheard you over Lily Allen] Excuse me?
Y: You won't get a nice decent [insert race here]* man to marry you if you continue to dress like a slut.
M: [blinks slowly] Okay, right. Umm, thanks.

Politeness: 1, Random Stranger: 0

Because my answer kinda rendered you speechless for a moment, I took that as an opportunity to go back to listening to my music.

Of course, I took a few seconds to address my outfit that was visible for the day. Runners, not slutty. Black pants, not slutty. Navy blue hoodie that was zipped up, not slutty. Red jacket to keep me warm and dry, not slutty. Hair? In pigtails. I had to text a friend and she informed me that pigtails were probably what resulted in the slut comment. After all, schoolgirls just get such a bad rap in the world, right?

However, I am not impressed with your generalization. For all you know, I could have been under the age of 16 and the biggest worry in my life is wondering if the boy who sits next to me in math class even knows that I'm alive. For all you know, I could be the next Virgin Mary and have a miracle birth. For all you know, I could cat around and be sleeping my way through the men's water polo team at my school. Luckily for me, I'm none of those things, but you don't know that. You based your decision of me on... what, exactly? The way I was keeping to myself and reading a book? The way I was keeping to myself but, oh wow, I have my hair in pigtails? Really? Do you have that little of a life that you have to randomly start talking to girls who are sitting by themselves on a bus and start giving them little life lessons?

Because what I learned from your encounter is that I really don't care about attracting the attention from the race that you're so adament that I won't attract a guy from. I really don't care at all.

Sincerely,
Girl without a care

* The race that he was very adament that I'd never attract the attention of is the same one that I'm ethnically part of.