So this friend of mine from abroad comes to Tel Aviv for a holiday. We meet for coffee and gossip; over the second cappuccino she tells me that she has been "between boyfriends" for way too long and she's got to break this prolonged dry spell before she loses it completely.

I nod sympathetically and murmur some platitudes about how when you least expect it you meet someone great and stuff like that.

A couple of days later she calls me to announce that - hallelujah! - the dry spell has indeed broken.

Fabulous! I say enthusiastically. Where did you meet him and what was he like?

Well, she says, I was just sitting in a cafe when a nice-looking guy started talking to me. He complimented me about something, we had a long conversation, and I'm not sure how but a couple of hours later we ended up at his apartment and things just went from there. It wasn't amazing - actually I think he goes both ways - but he was sweet and basically just what I needed.

Really? I say. What was his name?

Ariel, she answers.

Um, wait, I say. Does he live in a small studio apartment near the beach?

Well, not right on the beach - but close by.

And did he tell you that he lives mostly in the South of Spain, where he and his mother run some kind of a business?

Um, you're scaring me now, she says.

Um, don't be scared. But yes, it's the same guy.

No!

Yes.

And even more than that, I tell her, When I told my friend Shelly about him the day after, it turned out that he'd followed the exact same script with our friend Michal.

No!

I swear.

I'm in shock.

Well, yeah...

(Cue gales of female laughter).

Later I meet a journalist friend at a cafe to discuss an article we wanted to write together. Listen, I tell her, you won't believe this crazy story.

She listens calmly and says, "Oh yeah, I know him. He followed the same script with me too. I don't think he actually works - just trolls Tel Aviv and picks up girls every day. But he's kind of sweet and totally harmless. I figure he's doing a service. He should think about charging for it."