Characters
It's hard to meet single woman on this job. You meet plenty of widows, but the timing just don't seem right.
— Det. Stan Bolander · Homicide: Life on the Street
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The speaker turns a complaint about meeting single women at work toward the widows encountered there. The hesitation about timing supplies the dark humour. A possible dating opportunity is immediately qualified by circumstances that the speaker recognises as making an approach awkward.
Context reviewed