Personality goes a long way

I have decided officially that Monday I will try to talk to Mr. Train, my train/bus crush guy.

I read somewhere that people are generally open to conversations with other human beings, as it breaks up the monontony of things like standing in line or riding a boring train or bus and provides a connection to others of the species.

So, to investigate this idea, I decided to talk to the cute guy who was sitting next to me on the bus today.

I was going to take a train today from my station down to a little jazz performance at a park near the beach, but the trains were not running from my station to another on that line, so all the would-be train passengers had to get on a bus.

I was the last one on the bus, and sat down in the closest available seat, which happened to be next to Cuteguy.

"Do you know what's going on? Why the trains are not running?" I asked him.
"I don't know." he said.

And then I thought the conversation was done, but no, it continued. He told me about how he was in the city to go to this thing called "Desparate and Dateless" (hmm...cute guy is also single...hmmm) but he couldn't get a ticket and so he was just heading back home with nothing to do. I told him about the jazz thing and invited him to join me.

It all looks rather good, doesn't it? Meeting a cute Aussie on the bus and then spending the evening listening to good music in a park near a beach with a beautiful beach and sunset and a bottle of wine. A nice story to tell the kids about how mom and dad met.

Sadly, the evening was much like communism. It looks good on paper, but in practice, it doesn't quite work out so well.

See, Cuteguy had recently graduated from University and is having a hard time finding a job, which I understand is very upsetting and stressful. Plus, his girlfriend left him a few months ago. Also a traumatic experience.

Basically, this guy was depressed and frustrated with life. Now, I totally understand how hard it can be to get over a relationship and stressing about money and debt is just crappy too, but this guy was bad. And no matter how upbeat I tried to be and how much wine we had, nothing was going to make this guy feel better. Not even sex. I'll admit that the thought of having a one-night stand crossed my mind, but after he showed me a picture of his ex on his camera phone, that idea died a quick and painless death*.

So basically we chatted, and I tried to be a good listener about his problems, and he didn't try to lure me down a dark alley and chop me into pieces or anything. He did take a picture of me with his cameraphone, which was a little disconcerting, but harmless. Then, at the end of the night, we got on the train. He got off of the train at his stop, and I took the train to my stop. He asked me what I was doing later in the week, but didn't go so far as to ask for my phone number or anything.

All in all, it was a wierd night. On one hand I think it was good experience, making myself more aware of and open to the people around me, because you never know when you'll meet the person with whom you'll fall in love or become great friends. Plus, the guy seemed like he needed to talk to someone, and even though it wasn't really flirty, the idea that a woman he met on the bus asked him to hang out will hopfully help boost his ego and get him closer to a place where he is more open to positive things happening to him in life.

On the other hand, I think I kinda would have had a better time just hanging out on my own.

It was odd. Just odd.

*I know, I know. It's hard to believe. But I had the distinct impression that if I had really tried to get this guy into bed, it would have just ended with him crying and me holding him and no happy horizontal mambo at all. He was really not in a good place yet. Plus, when I told him I lived with a Japanese family, he asked about the age of the women in it. Ew.