Bad Dates

A friend of mine is promoting her book, Good Drinks For Bad Days at a local hotel bar this week. They're having a bad date contest. So, I began to think of my past bad dates. I guess I can't include dates with my husband. If so, I might have to include the time I yelled at him on his birthday.

Back to bad dates, I can think of a few. I met this man at a book store and we chatted over the fiction books. He seemed interesting. He liked jazz. I don't like jazz but I thought maybe his interest in jazz might be a window into a deeper person. We agreed to meet for breakfast. This is a bad first date choice because if it doesn't work out, well, you know, you're stuck. And, I was really stuck. He talked mostly about himself and when he asked me anything, I was so spaced out from ignoring him that I had to ask him to repeat his question. It dragged on and on. Finally, we split the bill with him pointing to his throat while he muttered that he had a sore throat and had to leave. I shrugged and said, "Yeah, me too." Then I left.

More bad dates. Hmmm. I got stood up by the Kinko's guy. He'd been making deliveries for months and finally he asked me out. Yay! It was the first time I'd been asked to go swing dancing. I was thrilled. As a former ballerina, I loved dancing, especially anything that was romantically restrained. You know, stolen glances, the heat of your partner's hand on the small of your back, spins that end in a second-long tight embrace. Needless to say, I was really looking forward to this date. I got ready with care, which is saying a lot for me. I'm a jeans, t-shirt and no make-up kind of girl. So, I got ready and waited and waited and waited. He never showed. He never showed at work. The new Kinko's delivery guy told me that he quit.

A couple of months later, I was on another date and ran into him. I just said hi. I wasn’t hurt or angry and there was no need to go into why he stood me up. But he persisted and shared with me that he had a nervous breakdown and had been in the hospital. He said he was better and I was happy for him. He was a nice person. He seemed to pause like he wanted to ask me out again. Quickly, I wished him well and thanked my lucky stars that he stood me up.