"You're an idiot." "You'd be my little girl."

I went out with a guy yesterday and had about an hour-long phone conversation with a second guy, who seem to demarcate the extremes. The first guy is an incredibly wealthy man, with a lot of power. Bi-coastal and seemingly very much defined by his other place living on Park Avenue and working on Wall Street. I was going to write “in New York City,” but I suppose he is vindicated by the fact that that is obvious. He basically said: “I won’t offer you want you want. But if you sleep with me on a regular basis, I will teach you how to have power in this world. You are wasting your life because you are much too smart for your current job. You what, work with 1000 people a year? 800 of whom have no chance and 100 of whom will make it without you and maybe helping 100. What a waste of you. You could matter, but you’re too lazy to connect with the people that matter. I will give you access to the people with power, and you can create policies and institutions that affect 10 million people a year.”

And I have to say, while I am not a prostitute, if ever I were to have sex with someone I didn’t love, that would be the offer that would do it.

However, I don’t think he could deliver. He was incredibly good at figuring out my weaknesses, but he never once gave a hint that he knew how the world I care about operates. (He didn’t even know who Paul Krugman, Thomas Friedman or David Brooks are, and most people on Wall Street hate Krugman’s guts.

He was SO cynical! He designs hedge funds, but he said he wouldn’t put a nickel in Wall Street. And if people are stupid enough to invest in Wall Street without understanding everything about their investment, then they deserve to lose it all.

We said I was Park Avenue in my bones. Even if I’d rejected it, I belonged on Park Avenue, but right now, no one who lived there would ever allow me in their house. But he could teach me how to have access to all the power and wealth of Wall Street. I think he realized quite earlier that money bores me, so over and over again, he kept focusing on the power to change social policy.

“You’re an idiot” he said. "You keep banging your head against the wall's. I know the architect. He'll give you the plans if I introduce you."

It is a very seductive offer. I do have to admit, he was less repellant by the end of our 4-hour lunch (with SO much wine!) than the beginning.

One thing was quite interesting: if he was looking for weaknesses, he ignored all the ones I think of as my biggest ones. He made it quite clear he thought I was hot and smart and said he rarely dates over 25, and I should just lie about my age and say I'm 32, because that's what I look like. (Why do I keep getting these people saying I should like about my age? And why is it always 32?)

Guy number 2 offers the exact opposite. He seems like a nice guy, who runs a hotel on one of the San Juan islands. He basically offered to cherish and love me, and support me. "You'd be my little girl" he said. I said "there's no way our lives could work, and I'm not interested in making that much of a trip to meet. (He said I have to come out to visit him--he couldn't leave his hotel to make the trip.) And when I pointed out our jobs are too far apart for us to live together he was like "you can quit yours; I'll take care of you." I think he understood, by the end, that my job is far too important for me to quit it like that. I could never submit to someone without all the power I have during the day. Power guy #1 would mock as pointless. But sometimes, it feels like I do make a difference.

Maybe I'm a fool for not spreading my legs for Guy #1. Maybe I'll see him again. (I told him flat out I wouldn't sleep with him and he said "we'll see--we have something here--you are worth something.") It is just interesting to have two-such extremes presented at once.