Surprises!

In online dating, I can honestly say, I feel like I have seen and heard it all. I am sure you may be able to share one of your own stories and I welcome them. But, until I hear from you, let me share a couple of my most memorable moments.

One of my favorite meetings was back in the early 2000’s, when I first became involved with online dating. To be honest, I was green-eyed and bushy-tailed and had no clue as to the do’s and don’ts of dating, let alone this new online phenomenon. I received a Wink from this gorgeous guy with the bluest of eyes, and this dark, dark, curly hair. With olive skin hinting of Italian decent, I found him witty and intriguing and all the things I thought I wanted from a charismatic gentleman. With excitement beating my heart, he asked me to meet him at a local, family-owned Italian restaurant (no surprise), known for its atmosphere and solid cooking. I arrived at the charming hotspot and began to look around the small room for my prince-in-waiting. I could not see him. I stood there a moment. He was nowhere to be found. I checked the time. Yes, it was the right time. Where could he possibly be? From the back of the room, I hear someone lightly call out my name and I look up to an energetically waving hand. “Over here! Shawn!” I started towards the booth, and as my eyes took in what I saw, it hit me, “Run!” Of course, I didn’t. I sat down in the booth, across from a gentleman every bit of 20 or more years older than the pictures I had examined. His remaining hair was grey and cut, almost buzzed, close to his head. As he greeted me, I must have had some look of shock and horror on my face, because he immediately addressed the physical inconsistencies with his pictures. He explained to me that he was “young at heart” and most of the women who were attracted to him were “old and boring” with “one foot already in the grave.” Yes, readers, he said that. So, he had the brilliant idea to use his son’s pictures in the hopes that he could attract younger women, and once he met them, they would see exactly how youthful he actually was.

That fateful one-time meeting at the Italian restaurant ended up taking an hour of my life that I will never get back, but my next date example was one for the books. Now, this was before I had come up with the Twenty-Minute Meeting concept, so official “First Dates” were still my modus operandi….unfortunately. Anyway, I had met a gentleman and we had some very engaging conversations. During one of them, he stated he was quite the gentleman and did not believe the woman should ever, under any circumstances, pay for the first date. Since I was thinking that the conversation was good, hopefully, this date would go well equally. He asked me on a traditional dinner and a movie for Friday night. I felt like I was in high school again! We met at the movie theater and got in line for the ticket counter. As we waited in line, he stood in front of me, leading the conversation and engaging me in light banter that was both fun and took the boredom out of the long wait. In what appeared to be no time at all, we were at the head of the line awaiting the next available clerk. Upon being called, my date stepped to the side. Let me say that again. He stepped to the side. Are you getting what he did? Instead of stepping up to the counter, he stepped to the side of the line, leaving me at the head…..alone….looking at the clerk…..with a line of people behind me…. I looked to him and he turned his back, stepping a few feet from the head of the line. “Mam, next in line please.”

As I walked toward the counter, everything fell into place.  This guy was going to stick me with both our movie tickets, even after his display of chivalry. Oh, my woeful reader, do not despair. I had a plan. I made my purchase and proceeded toward the ticket taker.

Serendipitously, my date appeared beside me. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Absolutely, not a problem.”

“Tickets please.”

I handed the young teen, working the gate, my ticket and proceeded towards the appropriate theater, leaving my date- ticketless- with him. Have I ever told you that I sometimes enjoy going to the movies alone?