#generally i sorta freeze like a deer in headlights and then the other person might coax me out into the metaphorical open field

[geraskier]

hey not to sound totally oblivious but can i get some opinions on if someone is flirting with me or not. the goldfish person from the fish store, the one with the actual goldfish tattoo, definitely recognizes me and is always very friendly. i keep having to run back to that store for something bc fishtanks are money pits so i've been there at least once a week for a bit.

at one point we had a nice chat about goldfish and i showed him pictures of p.b., and he saw the trans flag sticker on my phone and said "me too". and then when i called the store to see if he specifically had room to take p.b., the person who answered the phone told me goldfish guy's name in the context of "oh [redacted] isn't here but i remember him saying his tank is full". THEN the next time i saw him working he rang up my purchase so i was like "hey you're [redacted], right? i remember you have a bunch of goldfish, how are they?" he seemed surprised but i couldn't tell if it was cause i knew his name (employees don't wear nametags there), remembered he had goldfish, or that i specifically remembered the names of some of his goldfish.

and then every time i have seen him since then, over maybe 4 or 5 visits, he's made a point of saying "oh it's you! :)" and we talk for a minute or so. my relative that has bettas was with me one of these times and she said, quote, "he was making eyes at you the whole time we were standing at the register". when i went to have my 29gal water tested a few days ago, he came right next to the help desk and started working on a tank display and we talked some more. now this is a HUGE fish store so walking from one section to another is a bit of a hike, but i also don't know that he wouldn't have been doing tank displays next to the help desk if i wasn't there.

i am super not good at telling if people are dropping hints that they're flirting or if they're just trying to make friends. he's cute and i wouldn't mind getting to know him better but i also am not at a place where i want anything romantic. i've been in multiple situations before where my being excitedly friendly at people i think are cool was received as flirting...i think i did that again here but also if he's reciprocating that's neat i guess??? help

also i don't want to make him uncomfortable by trying to be friends if it's unasked for bc retail workers can't tell customers to fuck off