Rhetorical Question?

"What's a good-looking girl like you doing single?"

Every single girl's worst nightmare. Your singleness is clearly rubbed in your face (is it that obvious?) and you are given a compliment, usually by a creepy man sitting at the bar where I work. First of all, I'm not very good with compliments anyway. They make me uncomfortable when I'm not expecting them. And I feel the need to reciprocate them, but that's very hard when the man staring at me has poor hygiene and clearly hasn't showered. And I never know how to respond to this question. Thank you? Or go with the more obvious, How dare you assume I'm single!
But the truth is, this question is fully loaded. Any attempt you make to answer it seems less than profound.
"I don't know."
"I like being single."

And your forced to psycho-analyze yourself or your exes to, basically a stranger. Really though, the bare bones of the question asking, "You seem normal, but really, what's wrong with you?"

Is it so strange for a 20-something woman these days to be single? What's that you say? Yes it is. hmmm...

What I really want to say to this question is, mind your business. If I knew the answer to that question I probably wouldn't be single and we wouldn't be having this terrible conversation. But of course, I don't say that because I'm too polite. And we end up having an awkward conversation about what I'm looking for. Or, the creepy man that asked that question then decides to make his move and between sips of beer decides now is the opportune time to ask me for a date. Now I have to awkwardly turn this man down, make a joke and run to the back so I don't have to talk to him anymore. I need a new job.

Moral of the story: Single does not equal desperate. And beer does not work on the person that is not drinking.