That, and a Pair

"What makes a man?" he asked me.

I didn't know it was me. I was at a table - he was sitting in a large chair, but the question seemed to be pointed to me, or perhaps just a general question for the room to stab at.

When the group at the coffee shop seemed to silently agree to ignore the man, he thought we just couldn't hear him. Louder, then...

"WHAT MAKES A MAN?" he asked again.

My body got warm and my mind rushed to the possibility that he would have some type of weapon and threaten me, pleading with me to give him the answer. I decided I would leave if he asked again and let one of the other sorry patrons answer the complex conundrum.

He decided to think about it a little more with his eyes closed. It was over. The area became calm again and I stopped just pretending I was reading and actually got a couple of pages out of the way.

It wasn't fifteen minutes later when my whole body flinched at the sound of that familiar, questioning voice:

"WHAT MAKES A MAN?"

Someone had to answer him. This guy didn't seem like the type to open a conversation of manhood, it just seemed like he wanted another opinion on the subject. In my thinking, I really couldn't sum up manhood in a nice one-liner. Something like, "A bear fight!" or, "A good beard!" went through my head but I thought I would be ostracized by the community in that back room if something like that came from a specimen like me. I had nothing, what makes a man? I can't answer it, there's far too much pressure right now. I told myself I would leave after this and now I'm simply tra-

"WHAT MAKES A FRICKIN' MAN?"

Finally a petite brunette shoved in a corner quickly said, "Sexual intercourse, now shut up."

She didn't yell it, but there was a forceful tone. That's cleaver...why couldn't I think of that one? I totally get it and its great. I took a fast look at our questioner and he seemed quite satisfied. He was asleep again, but I knew he took the answer to heart. That brunette saved us all and maybe now I could read something, anything really. I'm just glad that she took the honor, I don't know if I could ha-

"WHAT MAKES A MAN?"

Goodbye.