Blind Dates: The Very Bad and The Very Good

I'm joining in a neat Sunday meme called "Slice of Life" it's hosted by Cricket. The idea is to take one (or more) of her three prompts, and to write a "slice of life" as it happened to you. This week's prompts are:

1. A Forbidden Love. Since I've never had a forbidden love, other than too many chocolate chip cookies, that one is out.

2. Meeting your In-laws. Hmm...let's just say after meeting Hubby's mother and his siblings, I came to undertand some of his quirks. I can't really specify one thing, I just understood him more after meeting his family. And that's all I'll say about that...

3. Blind Date/One Night Stand. Oh, Lord help me. Unfortunately, I've had a few of these. Uh, the blind date - not the one night stand. :) I'll tell you about two of them - the worst, and the best.

The Worst Blind Date Ever

Let's see, I was living in Seattle. Obviously, single and since I didn't know many folks, I did what many others did, and turned to the Internet for a date. I don't remember what site I met this guy at, I must have blocked it from my memory. And I must have done the same with his name, as I can't for the life of me remember what his name was. For the sake of this story, we'll call him Leroy.

Leroy and I apparently liked what we read on each other's profile since we did ultimately meet. If memory serves correctly, we communicated via email prior to the date. The plan was that he would pick me up and we'd go to a Seattle Mariner's game.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I was dating, I would "put my best foot forward," especially on a first date. Meaning I would be on my best behavior, dress nicely, and of course, use manners. Typically, I would expect the gentleman to do the same (i.e. best behavior, dress nicely, and use manners.) Apparently, Leroy was not of the same thought. Leroy was punctual, and dressed, well... at least had on a clean t-shirt.

As a Southern girl, I was raised with manners and I fully expected any gentleman I went out with to be mannerly. Opening the car door for a lady was one thing that was absolutely expected - no ifs, ands, or buts. Apparently, Leroy didn't get the memo... He got in the car and reached across to unlock my door.

We had an awkward and forced conversation on the way to Safeco Field, where the Mariner's play. I don't remember much about the conversation, other than he said he lived with his parents... I didn't mean to be judgemental, and I'm sorry, but when you're over 30 - living with your folks just ain't cool.

Once we made it to the SoDo area, I vividly remember the walk from the car to the stadium. We walked down a sidewalk that had giant holes in it every 15 yards or so. You could tell the city was in the process of planting trees - which was nice, but...it made for a narrow sidewalk. Leroy walked 10 feet in front of me - so much for gentlemanly behavior. When we arrived at the stadium, we were at the corner where our seats were located, and we could have walked in and taken the stairs to our seats. But, Leroy didn't want to climb stairs, so we walked to the opposite corner of the stadium so we could go up the escalator. I just didn't get the logic...

The final blow of the night came after we found our seats. Somewhere around the middle of the second or third inning, Leroy excused himself, said he had to use the men's room. When he returned, he had an arm full of food, didn't say a word and very quickly and very loudly ate his hot dogs, popcorn, pretzel, candy bar and lemon slushee. You know, it's not like I wanted him to share, but he could have at least said, "Hey, I'm going to get a bite. Do you want anything?" or "Do you want to go?" or "Do you want me to get you something?" but instead I got to listen to him eat. And since eating noises is one of my pet peeves - it was soooo not a good evening.

This date was so bad, that on the way back to the car, I was starting to look for the Candid Camera crew, because I just didn't think one guy could really be so... what's the word? inconsiderate! Yes, that's it! I just couldn't for the life of me, imagine that anyone could be so inconsiderate of his date!

The next day, I was STUNNED when I saw Leroy's number on the caller ID. He left a message to say what a great time he had, and how he hoped we could go out again soon. Then the next few days, he called and left 20 more messages saying the same thing. I'll admit that I was very immature - I never returned his call. If I had to do it over again, I would call him back and tell him why I wouldn't go out with him again - maybe it would save another girl from the trouble I went through.


The Best Blind Date Ever

The best blind date I ever had was my first date with Hubby. We met online, and had conversed via email for a couple of months, then graduated to telephone calls, and finally set our first face-to-face date. Oddly enough, it was on Friday the 13th. The plan was to meet in downtown Dallas, at the Hyatt Regency water fountain, then walk to the West End and have dinner. The water fountain was next to a small coffee shop in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency.

When I arrived at the fountain, Hubby was already there, sitting at one of the cafe tables, reading a newspaper. When he lowered the paper, saw me and smiled - I melted. When he stood up - my heart nearly stopped beating. I had a date with Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome, and briefly lost the ability to speak.

A few moments later, I recovered and we were off to find a place to eat in the West End. We talked as we wandered through the streets of Dallas, until we arrived at Joe's Crab Shack. We ordered and picked at our food. We picked at it, not because it was bad but, because we were much too busy talking and laughing with each other. After dinner, it felt like we were long lost friends, we talked and walked our way back to the Hyatt.

We arrived at Antares, the lounge in Reunion Tower around 8 o'clock. We had a couple of drinks, but mostly we talked, and laughed, and talked, and laughed, and talked, and laughed some more. They kicked us out when they closed at 2AM, so we went and talked in the parking lot. I think we finally said good night around 3AM. I practically floated all the way home.

After we repeated something similar to this several nights a week for a month, I finally got a good night kiss... Sixteen months later, we were engaged, and five months after that we were married.