Party of one

I usually have no problem going to movies alone. Tonight, however, that creature comfort became a reason for panic. As I walked into the normally crowded and therefore easy-to-blend-in ArcLight Dome to see Shrek 2, the theater was empty. Empty, of course, except for a group of couples from my current place of employment (the sports club). These three couples were on date night. And they saw me enter the theater. Alone. So one of the girls, in a tone most insincere, asked me to sit with them.

Oh God. Why couldn't they have just ignored me? Why did they have to notice me? Well I couldn't leave. I couldn't hide. So I sat there and did not watch Shrek 2. Instead I fixated on the fact that I was alone and people I knew knew that.

And when I say "alone," this time I mean metaphorically. So I pose the question...why am I single? I tell myself I want to be. And to a certain extent that's true. And to a certain extent, it's a complete lie.

I waited until the credits finished. As I exited the theater alone, the Coca Cola-selected music came back on the speakers. Only the melodic strains of "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker could top a night of bachelorhood at its most sullen and joyless.