By Gina Angostura
Columnist

When it’s hot outside, it’s nice to have cool friends around, I always say. Or friends who will help you keep cool.

One of my girlfriends, Sammie, is lucky that way. Her recent first date with a guy ended with him buying her an air conditioner because hers was broken. Now that’s cool.

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Why can’t I find someone like that? I can’t even get a guy to buy me a freakin’ popsicle. It’s more common that I get to split the cost of an appetizer at the Ninety-Nine when I go out with someone new. There are no appliances offered, ever.

What does Sammie have that I don’t? Well, besides a brand-new air conditioner?

Maybe I’m old-fashioned. Time was that a guy paid for stuff. It’s the least they can do for the pleasure of our company.

It’s different in India. That’s like, a whole different country over there. I was just reading a story about how in parts of India, the woman’s family still has to pay a dowry to the man and how it’s so important to have boys in the family to keep the wealth concentrated. If you have girls, the money is going elsewhere, so you’re, in effect, watering someone else’s garden when you have girl children.

We have no dowries here in America. But we seem to have lost sight of our true core values. Meaning: Guys pay for dinner.

Listen, money’s tight all over. I understand that. Guys have a lot of financial responsibilities. Gas for their four-wheelers, pay-per-view sports ­ all of these things cost money. And the price of a case of beer has gone through the roof.

So it’s understandable that a man might not have the spare cash to treat me to a night out. But still, it would be nice, just once, not to have to go to the ATM before meeting a guy ­ just in case. It’s not like you can ask ahead if they’re paying. That’s just tacky.

Listen, later in the relationship there is plenty of time for sharing costs. But you know, a girl likes to be pampered a bit at first.

It’s a great investment, if you think about it. A few dollars here and there at the beginning is nothing to impress someone who, a few months down the road, will help you wash your truck, laugh at your terrible puns and pick up that case of beer for you on the way over. Service like that isn’t easy to come by.

So here’s the deal: You provide the chow, I’ll provide the charm.

But you know who got a better deal? My friend Sammie. The guy installed the air conditioner, and she never heard from him again. Saved herself a lot of pain down the road. I figure she came out ahead by $250 in cool cash.

Life should always be so lucrative.

The Single Cynic alternates weeks with the Married Cynic.