I DID IT! in New Beginnings

I actually talked to her! The dominant piece of advice in the last entry was just to send her an IM asking her how she was getting along in the company so far. Sound advice, but I was just too afraid doing so wouldn’t really accomplish anything. I mean, she wouldn’t necessarily know that the message was coming from the guy she may or may not have been checking out a couple of weeks ago, so it wouldn’t actually fulfill its purpose of making an introduction.

Well, every month my company has a little celebration in the break room for all its employees with birthdays in that particular month. The company provides a dessert and a raffle for prizes, usually gift cards for restaurants. It’s a nice half hour distraction and an excuse to enjoy a treat. I don’t feel comfortable in large crowds, so I usually wait until it’s over then get a leftover slice of cake (or whatever was provided). I was going to do the same this time, but at the last moment I realized she might be there.

Plenty of people were there when I arrived, but when the hosts started the raffle drawings, I saw her sitting at a table on the other side of the room. I thought I’d get a chance to talk to her once the raffle was over, but part way through the drawings, she picked up one last cupcake and left. After a slightly disappointed couple of minutes, I decided I’d be happier back at my desk, so I left, too. Outside of the break room to the right are the restrooms with an alcove in the wall between the entrances to the men’s and women’s rooms, and her cupcake was on the alcove’s counter. Well, I drink a lot of water, so I can always pee, so I took a bathroom break on the off chance that we’d both exit at the same time and I’d have my chance. However, when I came out, the counter was empty. Disheartened again, I wondered why can’t I just talk to woman like normal guys. Why do I have to have this anxiety? Then, right as I turned the corner, there she was, waiting for the elevator. Our floor is only one level up, but she obviously didn’t want to open doors or climb stairs with her hands full.

As soon as I saw her, the doors slid open, and I didn’t hesitate to step inside with her. After all, I had taken a cupcake an extra cupcake, too, and her sensible idea was worth imitating. As I mentioned, we were only going up one floor, so I had to act fast and make my move. Mustering up all my courage, I turned to her, smiled, and said, “Excuse me, you’re Jacquelyn, right?”

She turned to me, returned the smile and said, “Yes, I am” as she extended her hand.

Me: shaking her hand “Hi, I’m Rob. I’ve seen you around the office.”
Her: “I’ve seen you, too. What do you do?”

Well, I won’t repeat the rest of our brief conversation, but I found out that she joined the company in January, but didn’t switch over to her current group until more recently. Her position deals with the logistics of shipping our products, and that was all I got before we parted ways. She certainly didn’t seem at all smittenly flustered by me like the first couple of times she saw me. The important thing is, I was able to talk to an attractive woman and make her acquaintance.

It’s been such a long time since I’ve had a crush or an infatuation with anyone. That’s the thing about life after school; finding romantic interests in school is so easy because you’re surrounded by people your own age and life stage. For that matter, just finding people to generally connect with is easier than in the real world. Outside of school, there’s just so many people from high school graduates going directly into the work force to senior citizens getting ready to retire. Just finding, as I said, an age and stage appropriate person with the potential for romance is rare. Nevermind finding someone you’re compatible with in terms of values, religious beliefs, goals, and so forth.

Using Jacqueline as an example, all I really know about her is that she’s around my age and doesn’t seem repulsed by me. She might want children, disagree with my political leanings or lifestyle habits, or be set on staying in Atlanta indefinitely. At least I took that small step, and I’m going to be intentional about taking further steps, not just with her, but women in general.

Speaking of, I know my next move. My company gave all of its employees pedometers. We get points for taking so many steps, which we can redeem for cash. If you run enough while wearing your pedometer, you can basically get a free gym membership. We upload all our points to an online profile on a website where we can also make friends, like on Facebook, with other coworkers and share our fitness achievements. I looked up Jacquelyn, and she’s on it. She actually has a picture on her profile, so she has more of a presence there then the people who just use it to get their free money. I’m going to add her as a friend, and I just took a picture of me doing an au batido.

I’m going to use the above photo as my profile picture, and maybe Jacquelyn will think I’m interesting enough to have more conversations with. Incidentally, why is it that when I was younger and not athletic, women were attracted to athletic guys, and now that I’ve corrected that issue, women don’t care about athleticism?

Last updated August 28, 2016