I’m 50, and I’ve noticed a cute guy working at my local reuse store. He has a kind sparkle about him. This doesn’t happen to me very often, so I paid attention. Then I said a passing hello and continued on my way, having delivered the full extent of my opening material.
Today, I found a reason to go back. At first, I thought he wasn’t there. Then, as I was leaving, he was coming in. We said hello again.
That brings the total to two hellos. A modest foundation on which to build absolutely any conclusions.
He’s a stranger. He could be married. He could be someone I wouldn’t click with at all once we moved beyond greetings. At present, my interest rests on a smile and a twinkle, neither of which provides much biographical information.
Still, I’d like to talk to him. An actual conversation would be a pleasant development, if only because I’ve now demonstrated a firm command of the word hello.
The complication is that he works there. I’d like to make an opening without making his workplace uncomfortable, or turning a friendly exchange into something he has to manage while doing his job.
So that’s where I am: interested enough to find a reason to return, sensible enough to know I have almost no information. How do I get from a second hello to a conversation—and possibly exchanging numbers—without making it weird?
