A few weeks ago my coworker, and friend, a brainy beaut who’s a barrel of laughs and absolutely b-lightful (hereby known as B’liteful) had asked me if I would date an ex-marine. If you’re a relatively new reader, then let me make you aware that I date all “makes & models.” Although ex-military isn’t something I look for, I can roll with it. A little further into her questioning, I discovered that a friend of hers, Miss Match-Up, has a guy friend that she wanted to set up. Now, how many of you cringe at the words “set up?” I know if it were a family member attempting such a feat, that is exactly what I’d be doing. However, this idea doesn’t bother me so much. I mean, if you think about it, who knows you better than your friends? And as my years {…sigh…} of online dating has proven to be unsuccessful, I’m thinking set-ups are the wave of the future for me. While I was doing my Love in 90 Days project, I read that Dr. D highly recommends it too. So, why not?
At first there was a brief email introduction by Miss Match-up. I came across as a ants-in-her-pants granny. (May have to rethink this friends setting me up thing…) I received a text from B’liteful later double checking my email since she’ll be sending photos in a little bit. Having never met him herself, she was curious what he looked like. The subject line to her email was “Um, you’re welcome.” He was cute enough from what I could see, his “resume” wasn’t too shabby either, and he had a pizzazz-y name. It is pronounced as a well-known word from Star Wars. For the sake of the blog, we’ll call him R2D2. He was worth looking into.
We began emailing that evening, and throughout the week. It was a little unnerving at times when B’liteful would peek into my room the next day with elongated questions like, “Soooo?” or “Weeeeell? It was a little odd having an audience on this one. On the other hand, getting my own personal report card was kind of nice. I’ll have you all know that I was reported as “charming,” “beautiful,” and Miss Match-Up said he was smitten by the week’s end.
We had planned to finally meet, and go to dinner, on Saturday. I was a bit fatigued from a long work week and having to work Saturday morning, but I managed to squeeze in a power-nap to get me through. All day I had this gut feeling that I should text my friend to find out how tall he was. It is true, I’m a sucker for tall guys, but this was more out of common courtesy. I had planned on wearing my high-heeled boots and didn’t want to tower over him if he were short. Never know when a short-man-complex is going to jump up on you. In the end I didn’t text…and…should have gone with my gut.
I arrived at my date having gone all out with hair and make-up to try to disguise the suitcases that were checked under my eyes. In my knee-high, high-heeled boots, I walked across the street to greet him, and, after emailing all week, felt the meet deserved a hug-greeting. However, I felt a boob to face greeting was a bit too much for a first meet. I know, I’m such a prude.
We walked into the restaurant and were seated. This is where the date was…well…wasn’t exactly great. R2D2’s nerves may have gotten the best of him at times because he had this uncontrollable urge to continually ask me about my “favorites.” “What’s your favorite movie? What’s your favorite food? What’s your favorite TV show?” I asked about all the favorite questions and he snapped it was a first date and what was he supposed to ask.
Sidenote: A) Don’t snap at your date. You’re asking boneheaded questions. B) Once I give you a TV show title, guess what? Our conversation is over. You’re asking one-word answer questions. Go for open-ended questions.
Anyhow, as the chatting continued, R2D2 continually reported how he was a disappointment to his parents, kept making bizarre and numerous comments about wanting to see Bring It On: The Musical, and other tidbits that only high-schoolers would/might find fun and entertaining. Combined that with his height and I felt like I was on a date with a teenager. In addition, when the server came to take our order and then recommended a different type of salad from the one R2D2 ordered, he pointed out how he was trying to up-sell him. After causing the little scene, he ordered the more expensive one. When the server came back to check on how it tasted compared to the original salad he had ordered, he confronted him by saying that he had never had the original salad here, so how would he know. And then pushed the matter for a couple of minutes until I chimed in and said that it tasted basically the same, to which R2D2 called me a “peacemaker” when the server left.
Sidenote: C) Complaining about the cost of dinner in front of your date…where does that sound like a good idea? D) It’s a common salad that you have probably had and some point in your life. How does it compare to that? Don’t pick a fight with the server just because. And don’t be a douche.
I knew reporting back was not going to be fun, so when I got a text from B’liteful asking how it went, I told her I’d tell her on Monday. When Monday rolled around, I filled her in. She later reported back that he thought that I didn’t really like him. Hmm, I can’t imagine why.
New Year's Date Countdown 