How do you tell if a man is single/available?

I put this question out to some women friends of mine, thinking I would get complex answers. However, apparently, women spend less time pre-screening men for singleness/availability than men do for women. There is an obvious cultural explanation, that men often initiate contact, so are more on the hook for the inefficiencies involved in hitting on someone who turns out to be of the market. Still, I had always understood that women do, in fact, set the field before the men start playing. I know a number of cases where a woman has been in full control though the man felt as if he'd made all the moves. These are the questions I asked my friends:
How do you tell if a man is single?
At a party?
In a grocery line?
At a coffee shop/bar?
At work?
On the street?

Not much to go by, according to some women.
Several women responded that, in all cases, you just look for the ring.
"Not always a perfect indicator, but I would predict it is the one women most commonly use to guess a man's single/married status." -Kim
One woman simplified it even further, though she adjusted her comment:
"Because he hits on me. Oh wait – that’s not just the single ones." -Mo
Then, in an even more dramatic simplification, we get:
"Answer: You can't! That's one of the factors that makes dating so precarious." -Diana
Generally, women either didn't think men on the street were approachable, or didn't think you could tell enough about a man. However, one had an interesting observation:
"Housing in my neighborhood is very expensive. If a man is walking a dog, he's married. The apartment buildings in my neighborhood don't allow pets so only homeowners have dogs. And all the homeowners are married." -Jennifer
Men were most revealed when buying food or drink, it seems. The following comments put single men in a kind of bad light, but I guess it could be true:
"A single man will display a complete lack of shame at drinking vast quantities of cheap beer. In fact, he'll be downright cheerful about it.
An attached man will sip his micro-brew furtively." -Jennifer
"but I guess the grocery store one would be easiest to determine. Answer: if he's buying lots of single-serve frozen entrees, and beer. On the other hand, if he's buying tampons and Cosmo, then perhaps there's a lady somewhere around. Or perhaps, he's not the kind of guy whose dating status you should care about anyway......" -Diana
"In a grocery line? He's only buying a Hungry Man dinner At a coffee shop/bar? He doesn't order any drinks with soy in them" -Betsy
"The grocery line is the great demarcation zone between the single and the attached. Single men are buying a couple bags of Cheetoes or potato chips (not the baked kind!), three or four frozen pizzas and a bottle of ketchup. If they are particularly health conscious, they may be buying a box of Lucky Charms. Married men are carrying a list. They are usually buying lettuce." -Jennifer

Now, this all seems incomplete to me, but I recognize that everyone is different. Perhaps some female bloggers, like the lovely DeMystifying Divas, will rise to the challenge and give a better explanation. Others I'd like to see chime in: Celibateinthecity, Don'twastethepretty, JacquelinePassey. Oh, and anyone else.

posted by dan @ 1:50 PM