One day last week, as I was walking from my car to the office, I passed by two construction workers who were standing on the sidewalk. As I walked by them, one of the workers remarked, “I hope I don’t sound inappropriate, but you walking by us just made my day.” I turned back, smiled and said thank you, to which he tipped his construction hat and smiled. I then resumed my walk to the office. That was it. No horrid cat calls, no wolf whistles, simply a nice compliment without any creepy vibes.

My general experience is that men who take the time to share comments with me out in public tend to be the nicest and most respectful men. They just deliver a compliment, without going into an awkward space by either trying to ask me out, or by making inappropriate comments or sounds. They seem to understand that while women enjoy being complimented, they do NOT like being objectified or hit on.

At the other extreme are guys who use social media platforms to display their tackiest and most disrespectful behavior. I can’t even count how many ridiculous direct messages I have received through Facebook and Instagram over the years, but there have been a lot, and the accounts have all been blocked. Sometimes it starts out with a nice comment, like “you are so beautiful”, but then morphs into “hey baby u so sexxxi I wanna f*** u”, quickly earning that individual a BLOCK. What I’d like to know is how many women are out there who actually respond in a positive fashion to this kind of talk? Are there women out there who are insecure enough to encourage this type of exchange?

Seriously, guys, if you find a woman beautiful or hot, and you don’t know her, please don’t be gross. We ladies truly don’t like it. All you are doing is giving your gender a bad rap. If you can’t keep it clean, then you should keep your words to yourself.