I want to see the gap

I went to the tearoom to play go the other day and one very talented and promising 7kyu (he’s been playing for half a year I think, that’s a very good result) asked me to play an even game with him… I offered him a handicap, and he declined, saying that he wanted to “see the gap”. It made me a bit angry… of course there’s a huge gap, duh. So I played a bit unorthodoxly to crush him as much as possible and I was winning by more than 150 when he resigned.

I also always wanted to play an even game with a strong professional playing at his full strength, to see the gap. A few times I was even quite close to asking for it but luckily I never did so. And I think I’m never going to make fool of myself in this way, now that I can imagine what it feels like. Also, I am not sure if I really want to see the gap…