I'm An Engineer, I Don't Do Subtle

Subtle, to me, is a sledge hammer to the head. That's about what it takes sometimes for me to notice something. (Unfortunately, sometimes that's what God uses, too.) Why is that important? To me it seems like that's what a lot of goes into meeting and keeping a woman. Case in point: flirting.

Flirting is something I don't understand. I looked it up on the Internet and read the Wikipedia article. Yes, I know, that shows just what kind of geek/nerd I am, but cut me a break! I don't exactly have a lot of experience in this area. The article makes it seem like a lot of flirting is done with nothing but subtleties. A wink here, a giggle there, but nothing so bold as saying, "Hey, do you want to go out?"

So what prompted this entry? There's a girl at the Barnes and Noble over in south Fort Worth that I think I would like and I thought was flirting with me. We've met three times and had good, non-trivial conversations all three times. She smiles at me each time she sees me, turns towards me and actively engages me. I engage back. The second time I met, I offered to take her to a play and/or a concert. She turned me down. The way it went, I thought she wasn't interested.

I didn't go back to B&N for a bit, and hadn't planned to until this weekend. I was in the area after a movie, waiting on a concert, and I went over to B&N to get one of their litre bottles of water before a concert. That girl was there again, working the cashier counter, and we went through the same dance as last time. She smiled, I smiled. We talked and got interrupted (she's working, after all). I check out, make a half-hearted attempt at getting a date, and before I can even get to the asking, she shuts down that particular avenue.

So what's the story? Is she flirting with me or not? I don't know; I just can't tell. Well, our paths have crossed three times already. I guess we'll see what happens if they cross again.