My friend Iggy “just [couldn’t] understand” 

how I couldn’t be dating somebody,

and to inspire me, and/or out of 

genuine confusion, pointed to Ben,

a mutual friend who, for example,

despite so much less “to work with” dated

“Julia” (his emphasis). Julia;

what a strange assertion: I considered 

Ben to have much more “to work with” than I:

More handsome, fit, funny, etcetera. 

And what’s more, I considered Julia 

pleasant but basically unattractive, 

and had puzzled over why Ben dated

someone whose league he was so far out of.