Last Monday, I was on a city bus, coming home from work. I often ride the bus to and from work... it keeps me from getting uptight about being run over during rush hour by some idiot who would claim he never saw my bright blue motorcycle. Plus, I get to read.

Anyway, I was on the bus, coming home from work. The bus stopped outside one of the local malls, and a really pretty woman got on. I glanced up long enough to notice her, then went back to my reading.

She settled in, and after a moment, asked me where I'd gotten my T-shirt.

I looked to see what shirt I was wearing. It was from a comic book, Dawn, Return of the Goddess. I'd bought it in a comic book shop in New York City, and said so.

She expressed disappointment, and we talked a little about comics and so forth, and she mentioned that she worked as a manager in a store in the mall where she'd gotten on the bus.

She got off the bus not far from my neighborhood.

Yesterday, Friday, I went over to the mall. I had every intention of asking her out. I walked into her store.

She was at the counter, selling stuff to people. I wandered around. It was kind of busy. I looked at stuff on the shelves, waited for things to calm down some, for her to get a chance to come out from behind the counter.

It didn't calm down. I listened to her talking to people, dealing with people, and was impressed.

Eventually, I left. Without talking to her.

I thought that cornering her at work and asking her out was way too... stalkerish. She's pretty much stuck there, after all.

And I wouldn't want me hitting on me at work. I'm not sure I'd want me hitting on me anywhere.

I came home, puttered about for a while, went to bed. I had a dream, sort of a montage of the crap that has happned to me in past 'romantic' relationships, and remembered all the reasons why I'm single.

I'm only lonely when I'm riding in my car. I'm only lonely when I watch my TV. I'm only lonely occasionally.