The Formula?

My American pal, Dapper Dan, used to be, like me, a few-and-serious man in his romantic entanglements, a 'serial monogamist', a gentleman. Since his last great heartbreak, however, he has adopted a new policy: these days he is far more of a 'player', an enthusiast of disposable fun in sexual relationships.

He was telling me that he's enjoying a nice fling at the moment, having hooked up with an attractive foreign girl who was, like so many of us, finding herself rather at a loose end over the recent lonely holiday.

She is, he assures me, "very HOT".

Well, that's nice, I'm pleased for him. However, I have some misgivings. In the past, I've always felt that Dan was interested in intellect and personality more than looks, but he doesn't really seem to have much else to say about this girl. I ask how old she is. 22, he tells me. Jesus! Now, Dan is not quite so withered and ancient as me, but he is well the other side of 30, and there is usually an almost unbridgeable chasm - in interests, experience, maturity - between us and girls who are barely out of college.

"Isn't that just a bit young for you?" I ventured.

"Did I mention how HOT she is?" he returned.

"Well, yes. But that age difference is surely going to lead to problems before long," I warned.

"Ah, that's the marvellous thing about it: she's leaving in a couple of months."

Ah, yes. For those who enjoy a bit of commitment-free frolic, an expat community - with its high churn-rate, few people staying more than a couple of years, some only a few months - is an ideal environment: it's just one long succession of 'holiday romances'.

Maybe Young, HOT, and leaving is the way to go.....