Do you know Crystal Kay?

So after class today, Ripley asked what my plan for dinner was. To be honest, I wasn't really hungry. After my voracious appetite last week, I haven't really been hungry for dinner all week. But I *could* eat of course, and I was all for giving her company, so... she was craving McDonald's fries.

I have not been in a McDonald's for years. At least since I graduated from high school, but likely even before that. I don't really remember the last time I was in one, and I haven't eaten the food much either. (My dad brought the breakfasts to my apartment every day while he was here, but the smell just made me sick to my stomach.) But well... why not? It'd be nice to dinner with Ripley if nothing else, and sometimes I did crave a burger...

We went to the McDonald's between campus and my apartment, on the corner of the big intersection 天文台北 [tenmondai kita]. There's a bench outside with a grinning Ronald sitting with his arms spread-eagle. Clearly a photo op - sit buddy-buddy with Ronald McDonald! Not surprisingly, I found it more creepy than tempting. We went in and both ordered Double Cheeseburger sets then took our food upstairs.

While we were sitting there, suddenly this pot-bellied, 30-something man in a green shirt with short hair and glasses comes bustling to our table.
"Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!" he says.
Ripley immediately goes on defensive mode, plotting the quickest way to say bye and leave. I'm just weirded out and would like to ignore him and hope he goes away. But he squats down and sits on his heels by our table, his bag in front of him.
"I do surfing. Surfing? You know surfing? You know big waves."
"Oh, surfing, yeah," we say. (This is all in English.)
"Where are you from?"
Ripley looks at me like she clearly doesn't want to tell him, but finally says, "America."
And then he gestures to me, and I say "America also."
"Oh yeah! America! I've been there. You know Crystal Kay?"
"Crystal Kay?" I shake my head that I have no idea what he's talking about.
And he says, "You know, singer."
I still have no idea, but Ripley begins to nod.
"Yeah, I know her. We're friends." This meant nothing to me since I had no idea who Crystal Kay was (until I wikipedia-ed her just now).
Ripley just nods politely, and then the guy goes,
"Okay, well bye now!" and gets up and waves, repeating "bye now!" and takes the stairs down and out... we thought.

Several minutes later, I've finished my meal and Ripley has gone to the restroom. Suddenly out of nowhere, Greenshirt's back with three fruit-and-yogurt parfait thingies.
"Present!" he says, slamming two down on the table beside me. "Present for you!"
A jolt of surprise, and I automatically say, "A~ arigatou gozaimasu..."
He goes a couple tables down and starts eating his parfait. I don't touch the ones he set on our table and instead take my keitai (cell phone) out. I text Ripley: "He came bearing gifts."
When she returns from the bathroom, she doesn't look at him once, doesn't sit down, just says "Ready to go?"
I motion to the desserts, and she says "What do you want to do?"
"Throwing them away here seems rude, but..."
"Okay, so we'll just take them and throw them away elsewhere."
So we gather our stuff, throw out our trash, and leave without a word. If he'd caught our eye, we would have said goodbye but...

Ripley's default is "don't trust men," and I can't say I disapprove. I wasn't sure if he was just a socially awkward guy who wanted to practice English with gaijin, but when Ripley explained about Crystal Kay to me (some pick-up lines are universal, it seems)...
Oi.

So yeah. My first time back in McDonald's after I don't know how many years, and it involves a skeevy man thinking if he buys us presents we'll... what? And the thing is... I felt it. Ripley's better than me. She was like, "It was his choice to buy us dessert. Fine. Not our fault." But I felt *guilty* about it and like I owed him something (if only a little courtesy) in return... but it was totally selfish in nature! once I thought about it. Wasn't it?
Is it always? That makes me sad. (How will I ever know a real, honest-to-goodness random act of kindness when I see it?)

In a way, he wasn't that different from the Airport Cop, making me feel dirty, obligated. This conditioned response of mine really irks me, not only that it's automatic for me, but that they have that "power" over me. The only difference is Greenshirt was probably mostly harmless (outwardly a very stereotypical example of socially awkward otaku) and a bit pathetic (considering he left with his bag and came back and bought us dessert, which also alludes to the eroticization of youth here - "buy a kid candy and he'll be your best friend" apparently applies to young women as well), whereas Airport Cop was not. He had power, on top of being naturally imposing, and abused it.

Note: This kind of "Look! Gaijin!" reaction isn't out of the ordinary to me anymore... but for some reason I never expect it here in Mitaka. Because ICU and the American School in Japan are right here, I expect them to be "used to 'us'." But then Ripley pointed out that would make this place a magnet for people with a gaijin-fetish. Excerrent.