Sensitive (turns quickly to face him) I already know you -- and you're trouble. I mean I've never met you but I've met you a thousand times. You come off as shy and endearing. You stutter like High Grant. And you probably have an arsenal of cute stories of dumb things you've said in bars to try and meet women -- all of which failed because you're so 'harmless', right? But I know you're type. You're not shy. You're just scared of confrontation. You want everyone to like you and you have learned, correctly, that the best way to get people to like you is to not say anything. So you hem and haw and shuffle your foot and let the girl fill in the blanks about the things you don't say. You come off as sensitive. Your CD collection probably has a lot of sensitive but reassuringly heterosexual selections like Blondie, Wilco and maybe early David Bowie. But you're not shy. You're self-confident enough to talk to girls in the subway. You seduce them and then get bored. Maybe you have things going with two or three at the same time. And no one's the wiser. You don't even feel guilty about it because you just compartmentalize your feelings about each of them. You're detached, not shy. You're calculating, not stumbling. You're mean, not cute. You are the worst kind of heartbreaker because you look so good at the start and then turn out to be such a shit. Yes, I know you. So don't try talking to me. (GIRL looks back to the track. BOY waits, then picks up his book and continues reading) (Train arrives) 3/20/00Carrie Stewart is from Ohio. She and Spite editor Will Hines were in the same second grade class. Other Sections: |