Roy in 60 seconds

My not-so-great weekend ended Sunday night when I got pulled over in Refugio for a burnt out headlight. At the time, I was, ironically, listening to a podcast about motorists being stopped by the Border Patrol.* I was not stopped by the Border Patrol, however, and did not find my violation worthy of a stop by the Refugio Police either. For once in my life, I was not speeding. After searching my registration and docs and finding no other violation whatsoever, the cop gave up and asked what I did.

"I'm an attorney." This elicited an immediate, "oohh....I'm just going to give you a warning ma'am."
That's right.

Anyway, my not-so-great weekend left me not-so-thrilled about starting my Monday, but it had to be done. As I opened my hotel room door in Corpus this morning, I looked down the hallway to find a tall, dark man staring back at me. Here we go. My week had begun. This man held my gaze a little longer than necessary before I turned toward my bags and he disappeared around the corner. We met up at the elevator.

And this is how the next sixty seconds or less played out.

"Is that your natural hair color?"

"No"

"I like it. It looks good on you."

"Thanks."

I step on the elevator, followed by my new friend.

"I'm Roy."

"Hi. Nice to meet you."

Elevator door closes.

Roy unabashedly moves his head to get a good look at both my hands. Amused by his complete lack of discreet, I flash him my left hand.

"No ring."

Roy's eyebrows raise and a slight grin crosses his face.

"Can I get your digits?"

"I don't know...I don't live here."

"I can travel."

I give him a look like, I don't think so bud.

"Just to talk....just small talk..."

Elevator door opens.

"I don't think so, but it was nice to meet you."

I walk to the front desk. Roy takes one long look at me and then disappears down the hallway.

And that was Roy. The start of my week.

True, Roy may have been straddling the line between forward and creepy, but you got to hand it to the man. I've never seen someone be so proactive in the short amount of time it takes to travel from the second floor down to the first. He saw what he wanted, knew he had just a few seconds to get it, and he seized the day. So it didn't work out for him, but he definitely gets an A for effort.

And that's all it takes folks. 60 seconds or less to go after that dream man or woman you see on the elevator, in the grocery store, at the gym. Learn from Roy. Seize the day. And may you have better luck than he did.

*Podcast was from This American Life. The most popular podcast this week turns out to be Serial and I'm addicted. Check it out, but you must start with Episode 1. Thanks to Irena for getting me hooked and making my drive that much more tolerable.