A chance encounter

I stepped out of my little cubicle to get some air.  I wasn't making much progress on the problem of vortex tunneling in a superfluid that had been wracking my brain for months.  As I dragged my feet through the long dimly lit hallway, my brain still partly shrouded in a miasma of  unsolved mathematical equations, I espied a vague feminine form in the distance. There was nothing significant and remarkable about the spectacle. The semester had just started, and feminine forms had become a common sight in the physics building again. With diminishing distance, the form gradually resolved into a shapely young undergrad staring at the department directory.

She was clearly looking for something and was slightly frustrated at not being able to find it.  My first impulse was to ask her if she wanted help with directions in the building. This is of course the courteous human thing to do. Why the other day a kindly old man had stopped by and helped me when I was similarly looking for a room in another building. But this was slightly different.  My mathematical frustration-induced brain miasma was now dispelled with the realization that this was an attractive young woman, at least from behind (she had her back to me).  

I checked my impulse. Would she think I was chatting her up I offered to help?  Was I really hitting on her then in the guise of a courteous helpful gesture?  Would I still be so keen to stop by and help her if it was a less attractive woman?  or a muscular young man with an attitude? Was I playing into an old "damsel-in-distress" patriarchal idea by proffering help?  Why was I wasting so much time just standing there thinking useless thoughts? If the initial impulse had passed, shouldn't I just continue with my walk and get back to work? But then if I had already wasted so much time on contemplating an act, shouldn't I justify all that investment by just doing the act?  If my real motive was to chat her up, then why not just go ahead and do that? If my motive was not that, then is there something wrong with me? Because if I find someone attractive, shouldn't I pursue her to see if it went anywhere? 

And while I was thus absorbed in contemplation, a kindly old man stepped up and helped the girl with directions.  Was he just a kind old man or did I catch a mischievous twinkle in his eyes when he cast a brief glance in my direction?  The girl turned, smiled, thanked the old man and walked away. She looked pretty too.