posted by O-Trap
Sure. When I was in school, both girls and boys made lists with actual ranks and such. None of our little egos were bruised. Nobody I know felt threatened. Certainly, nobody acted like they felt threatened.
My junior year, in American History I sat next to this girl who was gorgeous - a little shy and conservative but just a very nice person with a face that always made me melt - I'd had a crush on her a couple years before but never had the nerve to talk to her. After I was over it, I could actually talk to her like a human being.
So one day she and another girl are tittering in class, passing papers back and forth. I get nosy and ask what's so funny. She says, "Well, it's a - uh - well, a "meter", and she's blushing. Right away I guessed where this was going, but I kept pressing her on what kind of a meter. She's says, "Oh, you know - It's a p- ..... a p- .... you know, a ... meter." And she keeps covering her mouth and blushing.
I said, "Oh, I see. And is there a list of guys in there showing where exactly they fall on this "meter"?" She nodded yes, still hiding an embarrassed smile. I asked if by chance I made the rankings, She said I was "kinda in the middle of pack". I asked if her boyfriend was ranked. She holds up a finger and thumb about a half-inch apart .... and just about collapsed in a puddle.
I let her off the hook at that point, but I did learn two important things:
- the gals in my class were just as bad as us guys
- I had been relegated to "average". Perfect. Just what I wanted to hear. But I survived somehow.