The Girlstore

Alison and I met online, as you may know. However, we first met in person at an Atlanta bookstore that we both used to haunt. Sometimes, when people ask where we met, if I suspect that they will look down on online dating, or if I don't feel like explaining the whole story, I say, "a bookstore." (This answer is true, but not complete.) For this reason, I sometimes refer to Yahoo Personals or other such services as "the bookstore." Doing so can be quite confusing, since we spend a lot of time browsing in and talking about literary retail venues. Alison likes to refer to any online dating service as "the manstore," which is not only less ambiguous, but also, in my opinion, terribly amusing.

Anyway, as a person who likes to browse in bookstores, and has met a few women there, I thought I'd post what I suspect are the worst sections of a bookstore in which a man could make first contact with a woman. Please note that I did not discover these by experience; I'm merely speculating.

• Gay and Lesbian. It should be obvious why this is not a promising scenario for heterosexual flirting. If, however, you are looking for a member of you own sex, then this is the section of the store to do it.
• Pregnancy and Childbirth. Even if she's not married or otherwise attached, your timing is bad.
• Children's Books. Either she has a child (See above.), she is a child, or she's..."simple."