The (G-rated) thing a woman does that makes me go 'wow.'

The question is often asked of single men and women what the first thing is that jumps out at them when it comes to physical attraction. 

Some women say smile, arms or personality for example, while some men say legs, hair or personality. There’s no wrong answer, so long as it’s respectful. 

I believe in physical attraction, and personality is certainly right up there for me, but for the record, my number one is a tie between the eyes and a kind heart. Sorry, I can’t split them. 

If it’s not the eyes or an unexpected gesture, what also sparks that something inside of me is a unique skill, like playing the violin or ballroom dancing. 

When I was in my teens and early 20s, my first inner reaction at spotting a woman who had gorgeous eyes, was kindhearted or skilful, was simply - ‘she's hot.’

Articulate, right? Of course not.

Through maturity, that’s changed, and for better or worse, my inner self now says - ‘she’s got wow factor.’

Okay, so it's not that much of an improvement, but I can't sit here and say I graduated to thinking (in the tone of a British royal), 'Oh my, her aesthetic appeal is excruciatingly beautiful,' because my vocabulary isn't that good, and because, well, that just sounds weird.

Anyway... moving on.

When the sun’s out and I have free time I like to head to the beach, sit on a grass hill on the esplanade and people-watch. Actually, people-and-dog-watch. 

I have rules. I’m not one to stare, at least at the humans. I was taught it’s rude to stare, so I limit watching someone to one-and-a-half seconds. Unless of course, she’s a female with the wow factor. In that case, I feel like three seconds, with a maximum three separate looks, with a two-second look away in between each look, is okay. 

The other day I went down to the beach and sat in my usual spot. I was there maybe 20 minutes. Two minutes before I left, two women, maybe in their early 30s, cruised towards me and caught my attention.

The voice in my head immediately declared, ‘they’ve the wow factor.’

Why? Because they were doing this...

Maybe its the images of Venice Beach in Hollywood movies and TV shows, maybe it’s because I don’t see it that much where I live even in the summertime, or maybe it’s the glow of the sun and the wind in the hair, but every time a woman is roller-skating or blading by the beach, it catches my eye and evokes that same response: ‘wow.’

I wish I could tell you the exact reason behind it, I just don't know what it is. The question though is - is it normal?

I asked a handful of female friends and four of them pretty much said the same thing - "No, that's really un-normal."

The fifth however did accept it as something "a bit" normal.

"Surfer boys are like my wow factor," she said. "Well, I wouldn't call it 'wow factor,' but a guy who can surf definitely grabs my attention more."

She said she had approached a couple of surfers over the journey. This is where our experiences differed; I've never approached a girl rollerskating by the beach.

I explained that it was easier for her to approach a surfer coming out of the water because they were a slower moving target. A girl on skates is a fast moving target, and approaching her is fraught with danger because, "If I caused her to crash, she wouldn't just reject me, she might sue me," I said.

My female friend repudiated this reason, and said the true reason I wouldn't approach a girl on skates was, "because you're a wuss. A big, fat wussy wuss."

That's where our conversation ended because, well, I couldn't argue with that.

That chat got me to thinking, less about me being a wuss, and more about how I could eliminate the potential hazard caused by me introducing myself to a fast moving target.

'What if I too was on skates or blades,' I thought. 'Then we'd both be moving at the same speed, and she'd be less likely to crash when I say, "hello".'

The easy fix was for me to simply buy some blades and learn how to use them.

Which brings me to this point - the point where I need to confess that... I actually took up rollerblading in 2017.

(And now I've taken us all to weird town, because by rollerblading myself, I've made it sound like I give myself the 'wow factor').

Maybe all I really need to do is put myself out there.

And hope there's a gal around somewhere who also feels the 'wow factor,' when she sees a bloke on blades.

Somehow I doubt it.

Caption: My sister bought my niece a pair of rollerskates for Christmas, and the niece and I have been practicing in her street. The little nephew in this photo doesn't have a pair, but desperately wanted a go, so yes, I strapped his tiny feet into my size 11s, held him round the waist, and rolled him 20 metres up the footpath and back. He thought it was the best thing ever and nagged his parents for rollerblades for hours afterwards.

This photo is of us post-sesh, being the crazy cats we are.

Footnote: I've just received some feedback regarding the image featured with this piece:

"Hi Matty. The arrows pointing to the feet made me think women's feet made you go 'wow.' Like you have some kind of foot fetish or something. Just thought I'd let you know."

I always take feedback on board, and agree with this.

I apologise if the image made anyone else think the same thing. Not my intention. And I certainly don't have a foot fetish. Sorry.