Oh, how she loved me

June 2006

Its been a long time now since I last went out on a date, about five months to be exact. I haven't had a date since I left London at the end of January.

There are perhaps two problems.

The first is a lack of opportunity. I hope when I say this, that I am not just making an excuse for myself. My life at the moment does not present me with many chances to meet people. I am no longer working away from home, so I don't go out much in the evening.

The second difficulty, it seems to me, is far more fundamental. It is that I really don't know how to either identify or create an opportunity. I am not bad looking, and yet recently I seem unable to attract any female attention.

So when a young lady does speak to me, for whatever reason, I immediately find myself thinking about her for days, even when it was just a chance encounter, that is unlikely to be repeated.

And although I did quite a lot of dating last year in London, with one or two exceptions, it was a disappointing experience. With all of the more attractive ladies, I was tongue tied and awkward.
I daresay my friend David, who emails me incessantly, with his promise to 'double my dating', would have a lot to say about all this.

I can't help but contrast all this with the successes I enjoyed whilst traveling to, and living, in Asia. In both Hong Kong and Shanghai I was never without opportunity.

And of course, how easy it was, that night I met Maggie. How afterwards, everything fell so easily into place. How she made it all happen. And how she loved me..... Oh, how she loved me.