Meetin' and Greetin'

So here it is Fresher's Week, which means that there are all sorts of meet and greet events for the new students. I am prompted by all this to ponder the making of new friends. Of course, generally speaking meeting new people is an activity I approach with the largest amount of trepidation possible, involving as it does so many opportunities for being spurned (not that this has happened to me for about eight years; still, old convictions die hard). But I have been forced to realise something new this year, as well, and that is that if there's isn't a chance that I'm going to end up long-term romantically involved with you, I'm not interested in getting to know you. Yup, there it is. I really actually do have enough friends - and anytime the group at college gets claustrophobic, I have friends outside, too.

Obviously, there's no way to know who you're going to end up romantically involved with. But you do know who you don't want to get romantically involved with (in my case, anyone under 30), and who you're unlikely to get romantically involved with (people you don't find physically or mentally attractive at all. And in my case I'd also say the very good-looking, because without fail that beauty has hidden someone I actually wouldn't want to be with). So I can pretty safely say I don't want to meet any of those people. I'm not much interested in listening to the jejune thoughts or - worse - romantic adventures of someone much younger than I, and I already have many interesting friends in whom I'm not interested. So, you know.

Is it shallow? I'm not sure, but probably. I'm inclined to see it rather as a sign of weary, despairing desperation. But at least I'm honest enough to admit the truth.