Never?
                                
     "I've never done it in my 25 years on this planet."  The man downed his drink in one shot.
     "Never?" the bartender asked.
     "Never."
     "Your joking."
     "Nope."
     The bartender leaned back and whistled, then asked, "Why not?"
     The man looked down into the now empty shot glass and answered.  "I don't know.  I mean,
I've had girlfriends.  And I've been in positions where I could have, but I didn't.  I guess I was just
too shy."
     "Well, that never stopped anyone else from doing it."
     "Yeah.  I think it's also because I didn't want to disappoint my girlfriends.  You know, my
having a lack of experience is a real drawback."
     "Now, come on, it's gotta be more than that!  I don't think you're telling the whole story."
     The man looked up at the bartender, then held up his empty shot glass.  The bartender took
out a bottle, poured some of the dark brown liquid into the shot glass, and the man put in away.
     The man continued, "Okay, I'll tell you the real reason.  It's because I'm afraid.  Afraid of
letting someone get that close to me and being, you know, honest about my emotions.  I'm afraid of
letting them in and then having them break my heart later on.  So I don't do anything, I try and
enjoy just being with them, but it's never enough.  I still get my heart broken."  He paused for a
second, then finished.  "At least I don't let them in all the way."
     The bartender polished a glass while he listened.  When the man was done, the bartender
said, "It's too bad you feel that way.  Taking that risk, letting the other person in, is part of what
makes it so great."
     "I know that!  I can't bring myself to do it, though.  Or maybe, I can't do it."
     "What do you mean by that?"
     "Well, I've come to a conclusion.  Have you ever seen the movie  Jerry McGuire?'"
     "Yeah, great movie.  Love Tom Cruise."
     "Okay.  Do you remember how he had that problem with intimate relationships?"
     "Uh-huh, he was better at friendship than intimacy."
     "Well, that's exactly how I am.  I can talk with women, listen to their problems, give them
advise.  I can be a good friend.  But when it comes to being physical and close, I'm in unfamiliar
territory.  I don't know how to act and so I don't do anything."
     "But didn't you say you had girlfriends before?"
     "Yup, but you know what?  They all said I was nice and all, but they were bored with me
because I couldn't do anything but talk with them."
     The bartender nodded in understanding.  "Talking is good but it's not enough."
     "Exactly.  Maybe I should've become a psychiatrist."
     The man held up his glass again and the bartender filled it.  The man drank it and put the
glass down.
     "So, here I am, single and the best friend a girl could have, but that's it.  And I'll probably
never have one in my life.  Isn't that just sad?"
     The bartender looked at the man and said, "No, just unfortunate.  I'm sure you'll get one
one day."
     "Yeah right.  Well, I better go. . ." the man pulled out his wallet, took out some cash, threw
it down onto the bar, and stood up.  "Thanks for listening."
     "No problem.  If you need an ear, I'm always here for free psychiatric help."
     The man nodded and said, "See you later."  He turned around and started walking out the
door when he bumped into a person coming in.
     The guy he bumped into said, "Watch it!"
     The man apologized.  "Sorry."  And the man walked out of the bar.
     The guy sat down where the man was and looked at the bartender.  "What was that guy's
problem?"
     The bartender answered the guy with a tinge of pity in her voice.  "That man has never been
kissed."
     The guy sat down and asked for his drink, and the bartender got it.