Blind Dates - This one was not very romantic!Blind
Dating---Don't do it. About four years
ago, a friend
decided I should meet a nice guy. He was tall, handsome, employed,
educated, the man of our dreams. There were several meeting places we
discussed, and we decided that the local bar would be okay to meet and
that we would go to the movies after.
The
next day we had a few drinks, we talked, laughed, and we had an early
dinner. At the end of the meal, he ordered another drink for
the two of us. I had no problem with that. But he slipped as he tried
to get up. I chalked that up to a missed step while trying to get up
from sitting in a booth for so long.
Finally, we
make it to the movies. This was a very good horror movie,
ghoulish and gross from beginning to end. I hear
snoring
so I look over, and it is him. "Okay, no harm, no foul; he
worked hard today," I said to myself.
A
few minutes later he wakes up and makes a mad dash to the bathroom.
One
hour later he comes back like nothing is wrong, sits down and
says, "I
think I need to go home. I wet myself."
Sounds like the guy is actually ill...tough
on a date, though!
"When
I'm Ready, You'll Be The One!!"
Jim
(name has been changed) and I met on a dating line,
we "clicked" straight away and sent about
twenty Emails back and forth, then we graduated to the phone and talked
endlessly almost every night - this man was perfect. We had so much in
common, the same sense of humor, we liked and disliked the same stuff;
I loved the things he said and what he seemingly was all
about.
We live a fair distance
from each other but after three months from the first contact, we
decided it was time we got together, we realized we liked each so much
and we talked about a possible happy future together. It was time to
see if there was any 'chemistry'.
I have
a sister who lives in his home town and since he has a teenage daughter
who he couldn't leave as easily as I could get away we decided it was
better for me to go to his town and that I'd stay with my sister while
we saw each other for the week. We'd made loads of plans as to where he
was going to take me, what he'd show me what we'd do etc.
He
picked me up at the airport - the initial meeting was magic (his words,
and my sentiments too) We went to dinner, we had a wonderful time - he
was every bit as hot as his pictures, he was attentive and a perfect
gentleman without being too creamy and we talked endlessly as if we'd
known each other forever. The end of the evening came and he drove me
back to my sister's place where we shared our first kiss then we made
arrangements to meet early the next day for a day at the beach.
Sure
enough, he showed up and off we went together. Before we arrived at the
beach we went for a coffee - he was incredible, he told me that I was
everything he wanted in a woman, everything he'd dreamed I'd be from
our phone calls and Emails and yet..... he had to break down
and confess, he just couldn't "do" this. Huh?
I
asked him if he'd lied and if he was perhaps still married, etc., I
wondered if he was still emotionally attached to another.
He
re-confirmed he'd been divorced for over a year, but he couldn't
explain why he couldn't see me for the rest of the week. Strangely
enough, we finished our coffee, and yet still went to the beach (huh?)
We strolled, and talked and he said he had some "commitment
issues." I accepted that, deciding to take the high-road and
not cause a scene, after all - you just can't force a man to like you.
He took me home, I thanked him for the day out and he left after
apologizing over and over.
Anyway, by
this time I was soooo confused; he and I had opened up our hearts to
each other - not only in the Emails and phone calls but even at dinner
and then at the beach - so what was wrong with this picture? I was
beginning to feel so very stupid for having travelled all way to his
town to meet.
The next day he called and
asked if we could get together - I was floored. I kept my dignity but
sarcastically reminded him that he was the reason I'd gone down there
and so of course I was free - especially since my sister was working a
very heavy double shift duty so she wasn't around too much - I reminded
him of his commitment issues and I turned him down. I told him to get
his head in gear and stop messing with with my emotions. I told him he
was honest yes, but oh so cruel and I just couldn't allow myself to get
hurt any further.
Later that day he sent
me a long Email of apology with a excuses galore and a set of "good"
reasons why he felt he couldn't allow himself to get too attached to me
...well duh - wasn't this just a wee bit late?....he finished the note
by asking if we could just "hang out" for the rest of the week have a
load of fun and not get too serious.
For
some strange, stupid, unfathomable, idiotic reason - maybe because I
was at loose ends without the company of my sister - I
actually agreed to "hang-out." 
He introduced me to
his daughter who we spent a few hours shopping with, (she and I fell in
love with each other!) his sister popped around to his house and he
introduced me to her as "the next Mrs. Johnson" (!!) and when we
dropped
his daughter off at her mother's we even "bumped" into his ex-wife and
her new husband, it was all very civilized and I could see there was no
animosity but no feeling left for each other - he even
introduced me to her as his "very special lady-friend." Made me feel
like a prize Bassett-hound.
The next night
he took me to a very upscale romantic restaurant....and asked if we
could sit at the bar instead of a table (huh?) we did, we ate and we
talked and had a fairly good evening, but the type of good evening you
can have with your brother or cousin. After dinner, we went dancing and
he danced with just about every girl on the dance floor. I acted
nonchalant and even had a few dances with some available men. We
laughed a lot, he genuinely I think and me out of some sick sense of
pity for him.
At the end of my stay, he
drove me to the airport, told me he was madly in love with me and that
when he decided he was ready to settle down - I'd be the one (!)
Whoo-hoo - you mean I'm the lucky one ? !! He said he just couldn't
"do" it right now. "It" presumably meaning have a
relationship. I thought, but gracefully didn't actually say, "well,
when you do decide, don't call me."
I
felt extremely confused, my heart was breaking, but mostly I was
humiliated and a little sad after I'd invested three months on this man
and he had won my heart lock,stock, and barrel.
The
day I got home, Jim phoned me and asked for forgiveness, called
himself a big loser and a total jerk - well at least he saved me from
saying it. He asked for some time to think things over, then he asked
me if I'd be willing to move down there. (huh?) He said if I was there
we could date and it would give him time to warm up to me slowly.
Well,
hey, I may be 40, but I'm still a foxy looking lady, got a lot of life
left in me still and I'm not desperate enough to go running off to hell's
half acre in search of an elusive love from a mixed-up
grown man with a teenager's brain... there are plenty of
adult home-grown men that I can "hang-out" with if I want to!
That was three months ago - he calls me
at least once a week, I usually let it go to voice mail, so he Emails
me - sometimes funny, sometimes loving little notes, he tells me what
his daughter is up to and how she misses me etc...I delete and don't
reply - I am about to block him - so, what's taking me so long? I'll
get back to you on that one.
My
biggest
peeve here is that I was so totally stupid enough to see him again and
again over the course of the week after he was so extremely rude and
insensitive to tell me on the day after I arrived after travelling a
thousand miles to see him... in my opinion he could have been more
mature about it and just had a wonderful week then told me at the end.
We'd sort of agreed on that anyway when we first decided to meet - we'd
said something like "if it doesn't work out, we'll be honest with each
other, I'll get back on the plane and we'll remain good friends."
I
honestly thought that once I'd left high-school that all this "boy"
crap would be over and I really didn't expect this in my 40's from a
man in his early fifties! Sheesh!....Oh well...........Next!
Editor: Great
point - all this "boy crap" does NOT end in high school!
Dating Advice