I should have stayed longer.

This is a conversation, almost word for word, I heard this morning at the central library, when a black man sat down about ten feet from an obese woman in ducky pajama pants who had been combing the paper's classifieds for a job for the last half hour or so:

Him: Hello.

Her: Hello.

Him: How are you?

Her: Fine, how are you?

BEAT

Her: I've seen you around.

Him: Have you?

Her: Yeah, you're Asian, right?

Him: Wrong wrong.

Her: Oh....

*indecipherable*

Her: You're handsome.

Him: ...thank you.

Her: You're very handsome.

Him: ...*nervous laugh*...thanks?

*I get up and walk away*