It's a fine line

I've worked all my life to be a more assertive person. I have worked on this ever since I was a child, at Walt Disney World, when I witnessed my father stand his ground.

It was a tranquil evening and as far as I can remember, I was having the time of my life. Nothing beats Disney World when you're 7 years old. We were gathered at this fence in front of the Disney castle thing, waiting to see evening fireworks. We got there two or three hours in advance to make sure we got a spot where we could see.

About an hour or less before the show was about to start, a Disney employee came and ased us to move. He said that the spot where we were standing was reserved for persons in wheelchairs. My father almost lost it, since we had been standing there for two hours and there was no sign indicating that this was a reserved area.

In the end, we shared the space with the people in wheelchairs, and it worked out, but not before a heated exchange between my father and the Disney employee. It took an elderly woman in a wheelchair to calm the savage beasts and say, "Why don't we just share?"

So back to my point. Being assertive is crucial (so I hear) in dating. You want show that you are confident and you must take chances. But in my reflection on this, I realized that it's a very, very fine line between being assertive, and being creepy. And it seems for the most part, men are most vulnerable to the trap of being creepy, even though most of us aren't.