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James Geoffrey watched his parents divorce when he was nine, but it didn’t put him off marriage. It made him think that most people don’t know how to work at it. And he was sure that he would.
A couple of buddies married right after high school. A few more 1)got hitched in college. His younger brother married his first love and quickly had four children. Geoffrey moved from Michigan to Washington and got a job on 2)Capitol Hill.
The 3)ratio of men to women was in his favor there, and Geoffrey dated a lot. But it often seemed that the women he was attracted to weren’t interested in him, and those who did express interest weren’t his type. He wanted someone smart, but not 4)overbearing. A woman with a sense of humor who could put up with his 5)quirks.
詹姆斯·杰弗里九岁时遭遇父母离异，但这并没有令他对婚姻产生抗拒，只是让他觉得大多数人都不懂得如何经营婚姻，而他则深信自己深谙此道。
他的一些好友高中一毕业就结婚了，更多的则是在念大学期间结的婚。他的弟弟娶了初恋情人且很快就有了四个孩子。杰弗里从密歇根搬到华盛顿，并且在美国国会山找了份工作。
男少女多的工作环境对杰弗里来说十分有利，而他也频频约会。但问题似乎总是他看上的女性就对他没兴趣，而向他示好的女子又并非他所爱。他希望找个聪明而不专横，幽默又能容忍自己古怪性格的女人。
But he found he couldn’t 6)put up with theirs.“As I’ve gotten older, my waist has gotten wider, my hair has gotten thinner and my tolerance has gone down,” says Geoffrey, now 48.
I n t h e m a s t e r bedroom of his 7)Falls Church apartment hangs a world map with 38 push pins, each representing a country Geoffrey has visited. He keeps the place perfectly neat, with a floral couch, a leather recliner and an end table lined up with remote controls.
With the exception of a college girlfriend, no relationship lasted more than a few months. Dates often felt like job interviews, but he continued to accept offers of set-ups, certain his turn would come.
But four years ago, he realized it might not. And, more importantly, he wasn’t sure he wanted it to. “I decided, ‘No, it’s not right for me,’” he says. “There are a lot of nice girls out there, but I’m not the right guy for them.”
It became clear to Geoffrey that he liked his life as it was. The only unpleasant part was when he was questing for what it wasn’t. He had friends and travels and long summers at the pool; he had peace.
“Day to day is probably when I most know that I want to be single,” says Geoffrey, who works in public affairs. “You deal with so much crap at work. By the time I leave work, I don’t want to deal with people any more.”
然而，他却发现自己无法忍受对方的古怪。“随着我年纪越来越大，腰围越来越粗，头发越来越稀，我的容忍度也越来越低了。”现已48岁的杰弗里说道。
杰弗里在福尔斯彻奇有一套公寓。在其主卧内挂着一幅世界地图，上面扎着3 8颗画钉，每颗画钉代表一个杰弗里去过的国家。他把房间打扫得一尘不染，里面摆放着一张花布沙发、一把皮躺椅以及一个排满遥控器的茶几。
除了大学时的女友，杰弗里与其他异性的交往时间从未超过数月。约会常常犹如面试，但他仍然接受别人的撮合，坚信自己的转机终将到来。
但在四年前，他意识到那一天恐怕不会来了。更重要的是，他不肯定自己想不想有这么一天。“我断定：‘不，那样的生活不适合我，’”他说道，“周围确实有很多不错的女孩儿，但我并不适合她们。”
杰弗里明白到自己喜欢现在的生活，唯有当他试图改变现状时才会感到不悦。他不缺朋友，经常旅行，漫长夏季有泳池陪伴；过着平静的生活。
“日复一日，可能就是这样让我清楚地认识到自己喜欢单身的，”从事公共事务工作的杰弗里说道，“每天上班都要处理那么多烂事儿。下班后，我都不想和人打交道了。”
He thinks that it is perhaps easier for him than it would be for a woman. “Confirmed bachelor,” after all, has a more positive 8)connotation than “old maid”.
But there are moments of sadness. Sometimes, he’ll pass a father with children on the street and think, “I would’ve been a good dad.” So, he spends time with his godchildren, has long conversations with friends and savors the familiarity of an Italian restaurant in 9)Alexandria, where they have a table waiting for him every Friday night.
他认为，这种生活对男人而言比起女人或许会更容易一些，毕竟，“钻石王老五”听起来含义比“老姑娘”要积极一些。
但也有失落的时候。有时候，当他在街上与一位拖儿带女的父亲擦肩而过时，他会想：“要是我有孩子的话，我一定会是位好父亲。”所以，他会抽时间与自己的教子相处，会和朋友长谈，也会尽情享受亚历山德里亚一家意大利餐馆的熟络氛围——那里，每周五晚都会为他留起一张桌子。
A couple of buddies married right after high school. A few more 1)got hitched in college. His younger brother married his first love and quickly had four children. Geoffrey moved from Michigan to Washington and got a job on 2)Capitol Hill.
The 3)ratio of men to women was in his favor there, and Geoffrey dated a lot. But it often seemed that the women he was attracted to weren’t interested in him, and those who did express interest weren’t his type. He wanted someone smart, but not 4)overbearing. A woman with a sense of humor who could put up with his 5)quirks.
詹姆斯·杰弗里九岁时遭遇父母离异，但这并没有令他对婚姻产生抗拒，只是让他觉得大多数人都不懂得如何经营婚姻，而他则深信自己深谙此道。
他的一些好友高中一毕业就结婚了，更多的则是在念大学期间结的婚。他的弟弟娶了初恋情人且很快就有了四个孩子。杰弗里从密歇根搬到华盛顿，并且在美国国会山找了份工作。
男少女多的工作环境对杰弗里来说十分有利，而他也频频约会。但问题似乎总是他看上的女性就对他没兴趣，而向他示好的女子又并非他所爱。他希望找个聪明而不专横，幽默又能容忍自己古怪性格的女人。
But he found he couldn’t 6)put up with theirs.“As I’ve gotten older, my waist has gotten wider, my hair has gotten thinner and my tolerance has gone down,” says Geoffrey, now 48.
I n t h e m a s t e r bedroom of his 7)Falls Church apartment hangs a world map with 38 push pins, each representing a country Geoffrey has visited. He keeps the place perfectly neat, with a floral couch, a leather recliner and an end table lined up with remote controls.
With the exception of a college girlfriend, no relationship lasted more than a few months. Dates often felt like job interviews, but he continued to accept offers of set-ups, certain his turn would come.
But four years ago, he realized it might not. And, more importantly, he wasn’t sure he wanted it to. “I decided, ‘No, it’s not right for me,’” he says. “There are a lot of nice girls out there, but I’m not the right guy for them.”
It became clear to Geoffrey that he liked his life as it was. The only unpleasant part was when he was questing for what it wasn’t. He had friends and travels and long summers at the pool; he had peace.
“Day to day is probably when I most know that I want to be single,” says Geoffrey, who works in public affairs. “You deal with so much crap at work. By the time I leave work, I don’t want to deal with people any more.”
然而，他却发现自己无法忍受对方的古怪。“随着我年纪越来越大，腰围越来越粗，头发越来越稀，我的容忍度也越来越低了。”现已48岁的杰弗里说道。
杰弗里在福尔斯彻奇有一套公寓。在其主卧内挂着一幅世界地图，上面扎着3 8颗画钉，每颗画钉代表一个杰弗里去过的国家。他把房间打扫得一尘不染，里面摆放着一张花布沙发、一把皮躺椅以及一个排满遥控器的茶几。
除了大学时的女友，杰弗里与其他异性的交往时间从未超过数月。约会常常犹如面试，但他仍然接受别人的撮合，坚信自己的转机终将到来。
但在四年前，他意识到那一天恐怕不会来了。更重要的是，他不肯定自己想不想有这么一天。“我断定：‘不，那样的生活不适合我，’”他说道，“周围确实有很多不错的女孩儿，但我并不适合她们。”
杰弗里明白到自己喜欢现在的生活，唯有当他试图改变现状时才会感到不悦。他不缺朋友，经常旅行，漫长夏季有泳池陪伴；过着平静的生活。
“日复一日，可能就是这样让我清楚地认识到自己喜欢单身的，”从事公共事务工作的杰弗里说道，“每天上班都要处理那么多烂事儿。下班后，我都不想和人打交道了。”
He thinks that it is perhaps easier for him than it would be for a woman. “Confirmed bachelor,” after all, has a more positive 8)connotation than “old maid”.
But there are moments of sadness. Sometimes, he’ll pass a father with children on the street and think, “I would’ve been a good dad.” So, he spends time with his godchildren, has long conversations with friends and savors the familiarity of an Italian restaurant in 9)Alexandria, where they have a table waiting for him every Friday night.
他认为，这种生活对男人而言比起女人或许会更容易一些，毕竟，“钻石王老五”听起来含义比“老姑娘”要积极一些。
但也有失落的时候。有时候，当他在街上与一位拖儿带女的父亲擦肩而过时，他会想：“要是我有孩子的话，我一定会是位好父亲。”所以，他会抽时间与自己的教子相处，会和朋友长谈，也会尽情享受亚历山德里亚一家意大利餐馆的熟络氛围——那里，每周五晚都会为他留起一张桌子。