Page 11 of Shared By the Pilots

“You make a very compelling point.”

“But yeah, I’ve been told all my life that I should want these things. And even though my parents were supportive of me doing whatever I wanted,societytells me to want these things. It’s constantly reinforced in movies and on TV shows. And maybe I do want those things. But not because I’msupposedto. So, my natural response is to push back against those things. But I do wonder if I’m going to wake up one morning and realize I’m living a life without any deeper fulfillment.”

Luke nodded along thoughtfully. “Men have their own kinds of societal pressures. We’re supposed to get a job that pays well, even if it makes us miserable. We have to climb the ladder, or else we’re called lazy. We’re supposed to be the provider of a family. If we don’t settle down, people think we’re selfish bachelors—which issometimesperceived as cool, but usually just seems creepy. If you’re not settled down with a family by the time you’re thirty, people start wondering if there’s something wrong with you.”

I took a sip of my drink to cover a grimace. I’d had that same thought about single guys before.

“Not to mention all the pressures about money,” Luke went on. “I once worked with another pilot whose wife was a pharmaceutical rep. She made twice as much as he did. Which is objectively awesome. But all the other guys ridiculed him for it, constantly making fun of the fact thatsheis the so-called breadwinner. They took one of the biggest strengths of his relationship and turned it into a weakness, all because of toxic masculinity.”

“You wouldn’t feel emasculated being with a woman who makes more money than you?” I asked.

“Hell no. That’s the dream. When they’re successful, I’m successful. What’s the point of finding a partner in life if you don’t treat it like a real partnership?”

I cocked my head. “I have to admit. I’ve never heard a commercial airline pilot rant about toxic masculinity.”

“There’s plenty of ways to be masculine without it being toxic. It’s called being a good person who doesn’t care what others think.”

The server brought the check. I reached for it quickly, but Luke’s wide palm covered my hand. “I had two drinks before you got here. Plus, I’m the one who invited you out. You can pay next time.”

“You’re assuming there will be a next time.”

He shrugged while signing the bill. “If there isn’t, then you got a free meal, and I got a meal with some lovely company. And I will happily eat alone next time.”

“One thing you can’t do alone?” I said as we left. “Salsa dancing.”

Luke chuckled. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

“Then I’ll have to show you.” We walked outside and I pointed down the street. “There’s a salsa club two blocks that way. It was my backup plan if dinner turned out to be a bust.”

“So my punishment for being a good date is that now I have to go dancing?”

“It’s yourreward!”I replied, taking his arm. “It’s okay if you’re not a good dancer. I can teach you.”

“Why do you assume I can’t dance?”

“Because you’re a white man in his early thirties.”

“You make a good point.”

“Come on. It’ll be fun. I’ll buy the drinks.”

Luke grinned sideways at me. “Well, now we’re talking.”

There was a line to get into the club, but it was moving quickly. When we got close to the front, Luke pulled out his phone and said, “Smile.” He held out the phone and took a selfie of the two of us.

“Takes selfies on a first date,” I said, pretending to write notes on an invisible notepad. “I think I just found your dumb chin equivalent.”

“It’s proof that you went on a date with me.”

I gave him a weird look. “Why, so you can brag to the other pilots that you finally got me to break my rule?”

He gave me a level stare. “Proof for your friend Dexter. To show that you’re abiding by the terms of your deal.”

“Oh. Ohhh.” I closed my eyes and sighed. “Sorry about jumping to assumptions like that.”

When I opened my eyes, Luke was writing a note in his own invisible notepad.

“Hey! What are you writing?”

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