Last week, I received a phone call from a married man I met recently at a party. Now if, like me, you are a single woman, you'll probably know what comes next. Yes, he asked me out on a date. Well, I hope there was some sort of meal/drink/movie aspect to the invitation – he didn't make that part clear. What was blatantly obvious was how he wanted our meeting to end, and that was in my bed.

The reason he was asking me, he told me, was that he thinks I am "going to waste" being single. Hence, he was stepping in to save me from what he assumes is my lonely, celibate, life with a bit of no-strings action – a public service of sorts.

We single women are seen as potential bunny boilers, while men are some sort of exotic fish we must catch. Credit:Stocksy

I told this man as respectfully as I could that I found his assumption ignorant and insulting and suggested he show more respect to the mother of his children, the woman he married and made a vow of fidelity to. I was not, as he seemed to believe, lacking in anything because I was single – other than having a drop-kick of a partner like him.

Yet, I am acutely aware that my virulent reaction was not entirely this bloke's fault. Over the past few years I have been approached by too many married men looking at me as easy prey. This one was a last straw.