Missed Connections at The Strand

The Strand is among the oldest bookstores in New York City, and it's famous for its "18 miles of books." It's also the site of more than a few "missed connections."
 

Missed Connection no. 2 @ The Strand, via http://drawnyc.tumblr.com

Browsing "missed connections," in which someone who felt as if he or she "shared a moment" with anther person and, in an attempt to reconnect, posts an ad looking for that person on craigslist, can be quite amusing. Hoping for another chance at love (or perhaps something less romantic and more carnal in nature), a man who was shopping at The Strand posted this "missed connections" ad on craigslist yesterday:

To the lady organizing the health books at the Strand - m4w - 48 (East Village)

"I was wearing the blue jacket and reading pages of The Antidote as you organized and packed the table full of health books at the Strand. You were focused on your task and that impressed me, plus I dig your purple ornaments."

I'm genuinely curious about what her "purple ornaments" could be. Maybe they're earrings? Or some sort of hair accessory? Or perhaps a tattoo? At any rate, I wish this guy the best of luck. (Having been to The Strand, I can attest that those who work there are an attractive bunch.) Another missed connection at the bookstore inspired the illustrator Sophie Blackall to recreate it on paper for her book Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found, published in 2011 by Workman Publishing Co. In her book, Blackall illustrated the following "missed connection":

Polka dots in the Strand - m4w - (Union Square)

"Ack! 'Round 7pm or so...I was browsing the shelves and saw you on the other side. I swear I glimpsed our entire future together in that brief moment. It was beautiful. And then someone asked you for the time. I mean c'mon, who doesn't have a damn time-telling device of some sort these days! Oh, if only I'd thought of that..."

The poor guy was obviously annoyed that another shopper at The Strand put the moves on the object of his affection faster than he could. Let's hope that these two were able to reconnect after all because of the craigslist ad, which got a much higher profile than it normally would have, thanks to Sophie Blackall illustrating it for her book.

If you ever go to New York, spend an afternoon shopping at The Strand. Then maybe you, too, will be the focus of a bibliophile's search for true love in a "missed connections" ad on craigslist.