On Not Looking

by Gary Filkins

We weren't looking; that's what we told each other when we met. We were tired of being alone and each of us had found ourselves in a place where it was possible to stumble across one another even if we weren't looking. She happened to stumble first, finding a story I'd abridged to 1000 words so it would fit within the guidelines of the dating site and finding my newly minted "profile" intriguing, sent me an email - even though she wasn't looking either. I responded and we bantered good-naturedly for a couple of hours through email as we did that little dance people do as they circle slowly while deciding if it's safe to make that first, halting and semi-formal personal contact. We then agreed to meet for coffee and spent 4 hours talking and laughing and studying and assessing before deciding that we'd like to prolong the acquaintance and meet again the following day. Little did we realize on that day over six (yes, six) years ago that even if we weren't looking, that wouldn't prevent us from finding, being found and even mutually agreeing to stop looking even though we weren't in the first place.

6S

Gary Filkins saw. He liked. He contributed. He's satisfied.