Firemen, flirtations, and bloody noses

I am single, and it is largely because Wolverine has held my heart for years and I just can't bring myself to give it to another man.

I did, however, have second thoughts last week when I saw two handsome firemen sitting in the booth next to mine at Chick-fil-A. I did the quick glance-over -- flat stomach, decent arms, no ring on finger (Do firemen wear rings?), young, but not too young.

I heard the voices of my sisters telling me to flirt, so I did a quick self-evaluation. Pros: dressed all right for a Saturday, hard stomach from lots of running, jeans freshly washed and not yet baggy. Cons: the crew of little children sharing the bench with me.

I keep my little siblings on most weekends. I really enjoy being with them and sharing in their lives, but it does make it harder to form adult relationships. I sat in that booth, reading cow comics with the nine-year-old and watching the three-year-old play and pondered my situation.

I've been mistaken for a mom since I was 14, so I really couldn't comfort myself with thoughts that I looked too young. Probably, I looked like a single mom with way too many kids for her age, and who's interested in that? Plus, how do I even go about flirting while I'm watching a gaggle of youngsters? I got up and down to get the kids ketchup more often than was needed, walking slowly past the fireman table each time. Then I just started laughing. Even without kids, I'm a pretty poor flirter, but really? Ketchup retrieval? Not hot at all.

Too soon, the firemen were gone, and mere seconds later, the three-year-old came wailing out of the play area with blood streaming from her nose. I hushed her and carried her to the bathroom to stop the nosebleed. We came out a few minutes later, pale pink wet patches on my jeans from where I'd tried to scrub the blood out, and I was grateful that an elderly couple had replaced the firemen in the booth next to mine.

Maybe I'll just stick with Wolverine for now.