THE COLOR OF MY DAY IS BLUE

How do you meet new people around here?

Girls complain about not finding straight guys that are good-looking enough for their taste yet they judge you when you try your best to do it the American way by being upfront of wanting to meet them. It’s a cultural thing, you say? I refuse to accept gray areas. Those are for lazy asses who want to rationalize everything with a comma.

Either you act conservative or are open to letting people enter your life. It’s not as if guys are always nurturing evil intentions. What about fate? What about taking actions for stars to align? David Pomeranz crooned a hell lot about those topics that you unbashfully wriggled badly on your prom nights.  Then we hear complaints for lack of romantics out there. Phew. Humbug.

After a debate and thorough analysis of a modern Filipina’s psyche with my good friend Sheanne, I decided to message this new girl from the other department. It is an experiment to see if meeting people here is easy (and well, the wrinkle on her nose when she smiles tickle my fancy). The message was simple. A typical “Hi” letter without the cringe-worthy clichés. Not too pushy, contains self-deprecating punch lines and a sweet plea for a possible reply.

Nil.

I remembered approaching a cute, curly-haired stranger with a ponytail near the boat station in Brgy. Hulo 2 years ago. She was obviously waiting for someone probably more repulsive than me. I stood there, approximately 10 meters away from her, careful not to look suspicious by scrolling my ipod without any certain search criteria. After 20 minutes of acting nonchalantly and arguing with myself, I decided that I’ve got nothing to lose by asking her name and her number. Besides, I’m just another face with a goatee in the sweaty crowd of Mandaluyong. She said her name hesitatingly but refused to offer her number. Surely enough, I became another face in the crowd.

 I am now 80% convinced that without alcohol or a default setting where you are introduced or forced to be acquainted, you will never have luck with a girl in Manila.

Where's the other 20%, you might ask?

Well, didn't I just mention something about those poor romantics?