Alain De Botton

So like you're sitting across the aisle, you see somebody and they look just so wonderful.

And off you go.

It's charming, but it's deeply dangerous because the truth is that everybody from close up is trouble.

And you don't need to know anyone very much to know that there will be something.

They may look delightful and have a wry smile and an intelligent pair of ankles or whatever it is that's driving the crush.

But the point is, once you get to know them better, you know, but the thing about crushes is that they undermine our capacity to have long-term relationships.

Because, you know, you have a crush on a train, then you return home, there's your partner, you've been with them a few years, and you're kind of touchy with them.

And, you know, you're not that friendly because in the back of your mind, you're thinking, but

There was this angel that I saw on, you know, on the commuter train.

And, you know, that belief.

She'd understand.

She'd understand.

Exactly.

The constant belief that elsewhere there is this unicorn, the right person.

And it's not helped by technology.

Totally.

I mean, like you, I spent my teens and twenties doing this in libraries, etc.

And, you know, this absolute certainty that you know the person, even though you've never spoken to them, and also that they would be right.

And of course... Bookish girls, yeah.

Bookish girls.