Dear A.Prashanth:

You wrote: “I’m now a senior at work so my image is also important”. You wrote that you have the image of a gentleman at work and that you are afraid that if you approach this woman without a valid reason that your image will be that of “a low life or a creep”.

You don’t have a valid reason to approach her because she works in a different department, unrelated to yours. You also don’t have much time to approach her because she comes to work late and leaves as soon as the work day is over and because she is always surrounded by a gang of her friends.

The two possibilities that come to my mind are:

1. do not approach her at all, give up on the idea of getting to know her or have her in your life.

2. if you do approach her, got to make it a very dignified approach, nothing light, nothing of a flirty nature. The approach has to be of a serious nature, such that fits the gentleman image you already have at work. Maybe something like this: you walk toward her, and greet her, then turn to her gang of friends and say: will you excuse me, I would like to talk privately to (her name). As they move away and give you that privacy, you ask her to meet you for coffee or tea, in a public setting, of course, sometime after work or on a weekend. If she is shocked at your approach, you can suggest that she thinks about it and get back to you with an answer by the next day perhaps.

anita

Hi A. Prashanth,

I like the classic “A group of us are getting together after work” scenario. This also fits with you approaching her as a gentleman of the office. The culture, the age difference, and the work environment make this romance less likely to happen, I’m afraid. But you can always go out together for drinks! (In a group, of course.)

Good Luck!

Inky