I lit the gas under the kettle and accepted the hard exercise of admitting that I too had been quite deflated by the news. It's generalized Thing, of course, I reminded myself. You don't have any particular interest in any man qua man, but it would probably be very nice if every one of them was available. In that generalized sense. I mean, if you even have a mild friendly conversation with a total stranger and you know you'll never see him again in your  entire life,it adds a ... a fillip, if you like, if you know that something could come of it-in theory, that's all. If you know that-in that generalized sense-he's, um, well, eligible.
                  To my horror, I blushed all over.