May I join you?

She nods with a smile. "Please do." You slide into the booth across from her with your beer and thus begins a stilted conversation over the music. You learn that she's a nurse's aid at a local hospital, the youngest of three children and has hopes of becoming a doctor someday. She's trying to get a grant for medical school. You find this all rather boring but act interested. As the evening wears on, you find yourself eager to get away from the crowd.