From what I see, French men do conform to the existing opinion that they are skilled seducers – my physics friends are very “smooth” with women, even in the situations with no romantic interest…

…unlike me…

There are quite a few girls working on the same floor with me. However I already know that none of them is a physicist – they all study computer science. Apparently most of them are Romanian, but there are also a few French. Still, they are the very “young intelligent and good-looking graduate students” that I have defined as my target group.

Not knowing how to approach them, I decided to start with just saying “bonjour” when I meet them in the corridor, and wait for an opportunity to start a conversation.

Apparently, I made an impression on a pair of red-cheeked Romanian cuties, who reciprocated by charming smiles and often greeting me first. The situation presented itself today, when I was returining with two of my colleagues from a bakery, after buying sandwiches for lunch. One of the two girls was waiting for the elevator (our lab is on the fifth floor and the elevator is extremely slow, so the opportunity was excellent.) I begun with “bonjour” and then “ca va”, after which I found nothing better than to continue the conversation in English, and with a question, the answer to which I perfectly knew: “Are you also a physicist?” – She nodded negatively (or maybe quietly whispered “no”.)

I somewhat expected that she would reciprocate with some kind of question, but since she remained silent, I decided that she was already intimidated and tried to make a funny conversation with my friends (in English). I think I succeeded in choosing a good topic for the discussion – how much time it takes for the annoyingly slow elevator to get to the fifth floor. First, we were busy recalling how much time it took last time when we measured, and then I proposed to collect the statistics from many measurement and see how it correlates with our weight etc. Overall it was quite funny, and I am sure that my statistics comments scored with the computer science person. At least she seemed laughing.

We parted on our floor.

You might feel some disappointment that so little was extracted from such an excellent opportunity, and I too fell that another person might have used it with a greater effect. But I would not call this a lost opportunity. First of all, I am old enough to know that women are rarely seduced within a few minutes or even at the first date. Secondly, I will definitely see this girl again and there will be probably other opportunities to talk to her. Thirdly, she seemed very intimidated – after all, she is a young student, and we were three grown-up professional men – so it may be better to let her digest her this first contact before pressing any further. Finally, she might discuss me with her friends from the floor, and they may become more interested in me… including the rather arrogant French ones (who seem less friendly than the Romanians.)

Clumsy Lover

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