Guy From the Bar
The thing about projects, is that I love them. I LOVE having deadlines, parameters, a checklist – there’s something so satisfying about checking things off a list, you know? Also I recently learned how to download AND open Photoshop and Illustrator (if you can’t already tell from my elementary level infographics), and so I told myself not only am I going to go on a dating rampage – I’m going to learn things!
But the thing about this project is that it’s personal, and it’s not just a list and not just a way for me to learn a new skill. There’s me, and there’s other real people, and this whole I-just-want-to-find-someone-to-routinely-snuggle-with-is-that-so-hard dilemma.
And while it doesn’t seem that hard, here we are. It’s hard. On another “date”(?) that in the past tense I’m thinking to myself, “What? Why? But really, why?” Probably because I’m not going on dates with the right people? Like any of these experiences I would probably find funny and endearing if I actually had vested interest in the individuals. But alas, I get why people stay single and why you hear “it’s so hard to meet people” – because it’s the effing truth.
So this guy, I met him in a bar. It was a coworker’s birthday and we had gone out downtown. I ordered a whiskey neat at the bar, and this dude turned around and made commentary. He was dark and handsome and thought I was somethin’ real special for ordering a drink that might put hair on my chest. Great news for me because my growing affinity for whiskey is less about me actually being sophisticated, and more that sugary drinks give me a headache in the teeth. But anyhooter…
Dude wasn’t smashed, we had a good conversation where he introduced me to his sister, whom he was out drinking with. Later we rubbed up on each other on the dance floor as youths do in the basements of bars with poor lighting. Then he asked for my number before I bounced with the rest of our birthday party crew. Much like the majority of this project I have been far more open to any and all propositions, so I gave him my number and the rest is awkward, awkward history.
Met: Saturday, October 5, 2013 at Tipsy Crow
Attraction: brown man, dance moves, not overly douchey, was at the bar with his sister
Aversion:…we met at a bar?
Activity: San Diego adventure run, drinks and apps at pub
This is what I find so annoying and frustrating about this project. There was nothing wrong with Guy From the Bar. He was nice, good looking, came up with a unique first date. He was even extremely kind about the fact that I don’t know how to read signage and parked in a lot that would be under lock and key after 6pm. Which meant he had to drive me home after our eleventy hour date.
The weirdest part of the whole thing is that when he was dropping me off, he said “so, I’d really like to go out sometime”. I’m sorry, WHAT? What were we just doing for like 5 hours? And in that moment I was like, “Surrrrrrrrre……” Because when someone goes 12 miles out of his way to take you home, you don’t just shut him down, right?
What’s annoying and frustrating is that on paper, this is the guy. Or at least A guy. There’s no reason to not like him other than, I just don’t. Why does that happen?
It’s been months since I went out with Guy From the Bar. I had hopes that I might give him a second chance, but I didn’t. Between work and trying to go on my other dates, it’s not that I couldn’t make time – I just didn’t want to.
And that’s the whole point right? There’s never enough time. But we’re all after that person that we want to make time for.
