Unfinished by Gina Lovoi 2000 The ad read as follows: Erin x-ray 5-12 You gave me tissue in the radiology department.  I wish I had said something at the time.   Would you be interested in meeting somewhere other than the hospital?  Maybe something good could come of the whole fractured rib/cyst thing. It was a final act of shy, misunderstood desperation. Missed connection ads in both the Sfweekly and Bay Guardian were a side effect of my          peers condemnation. Nobody seemed to like me or care much of my existence. For the most part, immediately upon introduction, women made sure they kept their          distance. I didn’t understand this; couldn’t figure out why. But every time I begun to rationalize it, tears would well up and I’d have a marathon cry. I figured it had to be my fault in a somewhat high-school, John-Hughes-breakfast-Club          kind of way. Insecurities abounding, my head told me it was my hair, my body, my clothes, the things I          do or say. Now mind you, it’s not as if I just threw my hands in the air and said “Oh well!”. Ah ugh, nope, I kept trying again and again; I’d get back on that horse every time I fell. You see, I’m an amateur boxer and I know what it’s like to take a hit. The problem was that after a while I convinced myself the blows hurt less and I didn’t give          a shit. Which was of course not true in the least On the inside and out I felt like a diseased, mangled beast. Not only did nobody want to go out with me, But here I sat in the x-ray department with a fractured rib from the woman I will simply call          “G”. Although I looked my worst, was crying like a ninny, and moved like a girl in pain. This angelic face appeared holding a box of Kleenex; that’s when the tears really began to         rain. Simple acts of kindness always make me cry. And here she appeared out of nowhere to help those tears dry. I realized that she was cute, my type even outside of the rather unoccupied radiology          department...my mind began to wander. But how wrong to even be thinking these thoughts being that I had a broken rib and she a          cyst...this was not the time to romantically ponder. So we chitchatted about the advantages of dogs and cats while waiting our turns to get our        doctors advise. Oh how I wanted to ask her out, but even under different circumstances I wouldn’t  have          had the courage to roll the dice. We wished each other well and I hobbled to the elevator while she opted to get on the pay         phone. There I went into the sliding doors only to have let another opportunity slip by...oh          criminy, will I always be alone? Not this time I decided, nope, I’m gonna take some action. So I looked up those toll free numbers and promptly placed my ads with proud satisfaction. Upon showing my friends my active try at getting a date. They looked at me like a space alien, nobody was willing to relate. To such a looser, at least that’s how they looked at me. How could I change this karma I’ve been born into?  I wanted to be free. I’m still working on it you see. I’m pretty sure being free is not what it’s cracked up to be. In fact, being free is what I’ve been all my life. Now all I want is a stable wife. Someone to tie me down and wonder where I’m going or where I’ve gone. Someone who will bring me Kleenex whether I’m happy or sad, in the morning or at the          crack of dawn. Someone who will go to the hospital with me when my bones are broken in half, And who could understand taking out personal ads without wanting to laugh. Maybe this kind Erin girl would be the one, Perhaps she could end my search, make it over with and done. The allotted two weeks running time slipped on by, I called every day, but there was no reply.