I told a woman "you look so lovely." And lived!

I bought in advance that ticket to the opera even though I knew how busy the day would be with the tour to the volcano and the waterfalls.  If I didn't commit myself by spending the money, then chances were pretty good that I would decide to stay back in the room blaming the exhausted body. I am glad I know myself that well.

Not even thirty minutes to shower and change, and check for emails from stalkers!  I did.

I wore the only pair of trousers and the only shirt that I had brought with me on this trip.

Yes, trousers!  When I bought the ticket the previous afternoon, I asked the guy at the counter, "my shorts ok?"  He immediately responded "no shorts. Pants."

I pointed to my tshirt.  "Tshirt ok" he said.  Yet, I wore my shirt anyway.  I didn't want to be that much out of place.

Another selfie ... can you tell this was the bathroom mirror? ;)

I reached the theatre with only a few minutes to grab something to eat.  America to my rescue.  There was a McDonald's across from the plaza.  I ordered to go and ate sitting at the open plaza with all the other Ticos and tourists.  It was the best McDonald's experience I have ever had!

A police escort on a bike drove up to the theatre, followed by a SUV.  The high-powered couple, whoever that was, walked on the red carpet, while I, with the cheap ticket, was asked to take a side entrance to the gallery upstairs.

The theatre was fantastic. An old building.  The audience in the gallery had so many beautiful young and older women, and without male company.  If only more men at least pretended to like opera so that they can then get to know such attractive women :)

A woman walked into the row that was immediately in front of me.  About my age.  Followed by a young woman, about eighteen or nineteen.  The facial resemblance suggested she was the older one's daughter. They both looked absolutely beautiful.  Simple outfits. Not much of a made-up face or hair.  A casual elegance in their demeanor.  They took their seats two spaces to my right.

After a couple of minutes, I leaned over near the mother's seat.  "Do you speak English?" I asked her.

"Yes" she smiled.

I am convinced that when baby girls are born in Costa Rica, they don't cry after birth but they only smile.  And then they keep perfecting their smiles as they grow up.  If only I had been taught to smile when I was a kid; maybe that's what they did teach during the year of kindergarten that I skipped in order to be with grandmother!

"It looks like you are a mother/daughter" I told her.  "You two look so lovely."

The mother's smile became even wider.  The daughter also smiled a charmer. Had the lights not dimmed, I might have just about spent three hours watching nothing but their radiant and smiling faces.

"Oh, thank you" the mother said.

I retracted to my seat.

I could do what I did only because I am older and a tad experienced.  As a young boy, like most young boys, I showed my appreciation for girls by teasing them.  I wonder if young girls knew that when we boys teased them, we were really saying, "you are cool. I like you."  Later, as a teenager and into my youth, it was flirtation.  Now, finally, I can tell a middle-aged woman that she looks lovely, in a simple matter of fact manner.  Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts!

When I shared this with a friend--thank heavens for the internet--she noted that I know how to touch people's lives.  Another friend asked me how I knew it was ok to make that comment.  "I was sure the mother wouldn't misunderstand me" I wrote back to her."  Which is also why I did not tell two young women, who were by themselves, how gorgeous they looked.

To all those lovely ladies!