Day 5: The book store

The hardest part of this blog is that so many of the activities need to be done on weekday evenings. I could go to the book store at 10am, but that would most likely mean that any guy I met would not have a job. Then I end up waiting until 8pm, after people have eaten dinner and are saying "now what?". On this particular evening I am having trouble getting motivated.

Wednesday, 8:15 pm

There's certainly not as many cars here as on the weekends. I'll have
to come back on Saturday or Sunday. The cafe area is actually packed.
There are a few single looking guys but they are all on computers. I'm
not sure I understand the logic here. Presumably they do have internet
elsewhere so why are they here? Some have books piled around them but
most of them don't. I did a few laps around the store. The most
interesting thing I saw was a frazzled woman piling up self-help
books. I HAVE to see what she has. While perusing the section I see a
book called "women who think too much". I start laughing out loud and
have to explain to the frazzled women that without women who think too
much, there would be no self-help section.
By 9:00 half the people have left. Nobody really caught my eye so I'm
getting kind of bored but I figure that I can't just go to a place,
walk around once and expect to have a lot to choose from. So I'm
sticking it out, sitting in the cafe, typing this on my iPad. There is
actually someone I wouldn't mind talking to but he's buried in books
and a laptop. I can't think of anything to say and honestly, he's not
that cute. I did strike up a conversation with a woman who's reading a
book by an author I like. So I suppose the key to striking up a
conversation in a situation like this is sitting pretty close to
whomever you want to talk to. I'm feeling sleepy and tempted to start
playing "Angry Birds" instead of writing this. Time to get going. Hold
the phone, someone just walked in. I totally wimped out of making eye
contact and smiling. He just sat down but his back is to me. Blah, I
lean back in my chair and realize..... my fly is down. Fantastic. Like
I needed another challenge. Back to my plan of leaving. Pull sweater
down over open fly, check. Time to sleep.

My advice: Grab a latte and scope out the cafe. Move through the
magazine section and the music/ movie section as they tend to flock to
those areas. If you see someone you like engrossed in a project, sit
by them until it seems like the right time to say something
nonchalant. Make sure your fly is up lest you look like a moron.

Difficulty to initiate contact: 6


Pros

He may like to read/ be well read
There are a good number of guys there at any given time
You probably want coffee anyway


Cons

He may be deep in a project
You have to hang out for a while if you want to have a good selection
or a chance to make conversation.