I'm losing the appetite for strangers. Once I would have focused on the excitement, the hazard; now it's the mess, the bother. Getting your clothes off gracefully, always such an impossibility; thinking up what to say afterwards, without setting the echoes going in your head. Worse, the encounter with another set of particularities: the toenails, the ear-holes, the nosehairs. Perhaps at this age we return to the prudishness we had as children.
The quote reflects a shift in perspective regarding intimacy and encounters with strangers. The speaker initially finds excitement in the idea of meeting new people, but as time passes, the focus turns to the complexities and inconveniences that come with such experiences. The joy of spontaneity is replaced by the burdens of vulnerability and the awkwardness that often accompanies physical intimacy.
As the speaker contemplates the physical aspects of their partners, they recognize a growing discomfort with the details that were once overlooked. This may indicate a return to a more innocent, perhaps prudish, mindset typical of childhood. The speaker's evolving attitude underscores the complexities of adult relationships and the emotional labor involved in intimacy, suggesting that as we age, we may become more aware of, and sensitive to, the realities of connecting with others.
