“Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band. Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you’ll marry a music man .” Tiny Dancer, Elton John
This might sound strange, but one of the best compliments I’ve received was from a pirate. Not the kind that seize ships and cargo. More like the type who fashion swords and sell them during the Renaissance Festival in Fairburn, Georgia.
My encounter with the pirate inspired me to ask some of the women in my life about their encounters with guys who dole out compliments or cheesy pick-up lines depending on how you view them.
I had seen commercials advertising the festival in the past, but never really considered attending because it didn’t seem to be quite my speed. Years ago, an opportunity to go presented itself when I agreed to be a date for a friend of a friend. In exchange for showing up, I was treated to free food and a day at The Renaissance Festival. I admit that I felt a bit out of my element when we arrived. Something about mid-century comedy shows lacked appeal. That was also the first time I ever saw someone’s skin begin to change color as they realized one of the manually operated rides triggered their motion sickness. That person happened to be my date.
Returning to Renaissance Festival
Thanks to an affinity towards nerds, I attended The Renaissance Festival multiple times in the years following that with my significant other. After years spent roaming the grounds without truly engaging outside of ordering a deep fried Oreo, I suggested to my boyfriend that we make an effort to see and do more. We did just that. Halfway through the day I was rocking a flower crown, a Henna tattoo and joining in on a drum circle.
Then there were the swords. I talked my boyfriend out of spending an obscene amount of money on a “battle ready” sword. He purchased a sword from another seller, but the price was less offensive. Enter the pirate. One of the more elaborate setups at the Renaissance Festival is a pirate ship that houses model swords, daggers, even guns with heavy steam punk influences.
Each day of the festival, the sword shop conducts an auction. The pirates are rowdy, jovial, and tell innuendo-laden jokes like there’s no tomorrow. Before the auction, my boyfriend led me into the ship to check out the swords that were on display. I gnawed on a giant soft pretzel, found a post to lean comfortably against and stared at the assortment of weapons inspired by film, television and video games.
The Pirate Approach
As I studied the swords on display, I felt someone looking at me. I turned and immediately locked eyes with a pirate. I fully expected to hear some sarcastic jab at my Henna tattoo come out of his mouth because that’s kind of their thing, but instead this man—with oceans for eyes by the way—looked at me and said, “My God, you’re beautiful. You stopped me in my tracks.” I stumbled through words in my head and I am not honestly sure if I audibly thanked him. I mostly remember continuing to chew the pretzel, as I completely caught off guard. As someone who isn’t great at receiving compliments without feeling awkward, it made for an interesting exchange. Also my boyfriend was right beside me. Pretzel in hand while the words “BAD WOLF” etched in henna dry on my arm is not how I imagined someone would recognize my beauty, but it happened.
How do you respond to something like that? Also where is the conversation going from there? All concerns I was not mentally prepared to deal with in the midst of my festival visit.
I turned to boyfriend who has a habit of letting me sit in an awkward situation because it usually produces an entertaining story and a resulting inside joke. The expression on his face read of surprise and was followed by a, “Let’s go.” We began to move toward the exit but not before the pirate let out an, “Excuse me, beautiful lady!” and squeezed past me to help customers.
If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s analyzing every. last. word. someone utters. So I was left trying to process what occurred and decide if it was creepy, disrespectful or flattering and why I was so flustered by a simple statement. For me, the answer was a layered one requiring a bit of inward reflection. Did I consider myself beautiful? Was the pirate being genuine or am I overthinking this because he was simply sticking to his shtick? Why did his words make such a lasting impression? Is this the first time I’ve been called beautiful by a stranger? How much power does the opinion of a stranger hold?
The Appeal of the Pirate
One of the things that made the pirate’s comments stand out to me was the fact that he didn’t follow it up with a proposition, his eyes didn’t dart all over my body before landing on my eyes, and he moved right along after handing me that compliment. It felt like a “just so you know,” moment rather than one of those moments where you encounter a person who clearly wants something from you. Even if it was just part of his schtick, which I’m 99% sure it was, it was such a different approach than what I had experienced with any stranger up until that point.
That ocean-eyed pirate become the gold standard for how to treat a lady for about the next month, if not longer. I’d randomly bring him up just to tease my boyfriend. “That wasn’t very nice. You know who would never say something like that? The pirate.”