You've read this post before

I'll forgive you if you read this post and feel deja vu. There's not much new happening right now, and the old things are recycling themselves.

I'd had a long day at a Paediatric Life Support course, so some friends and I went out and hit the floors last night. The regularly scheduled program ensued - that is, I went after an asian female with black hair and of moderate height, and inevitably, I got owned.

I got caught especially flat footed this time though - I approached her friend by gently tapping her on the elbow and the immediate response was a scared look and, "No."

I mean, what?

I hadn't even opened my mouth. There are plenty of questions I might expect a "No" response to - "Do you have herpes?" "Should Australia pander more to American global politics?" - but my mere presence hasn't done that before.

The girl I was actually hoping to speak to broke in and explained, "Sorry, she has a boyfriend." Once again, behind the eight ball, my only instinctual response was to cut to the chase.

"Well, actually, I was working up the courage to ask you for a dance." I forget her reaction. I got her name, and discovered that she "wasn't really" available.

Suffice to say the night didn't get better from there. Even a brutal Barcardi 151 shot and the rip-roaring Neptunes beat under JT's Like I Love You didn't help me recover from the disappointment of that exchange.

C'est la vie. We keep going.