Death by a casual dinner - Date Diary #6

Surprise!  I just got home from a date with Miami Vice.  In hindsight, I'm not sure why I wanted to go out with him in the first place.  It probably had to do with the fact that I haven't slept in 2 days.  My judgment is clearly impaired.  There were enough red flags in our emails and texts to have avoided this, but since I've survived the date, you at least deserve to hear about it. 

First a little background...

From the first email, I have been on the fence about this guy.  He seemed a little forward.  And by that, I mean that he called me cute within the first 6 messages.  I'm always suspect when a guy mentions something physical before we've switched to text.  It has never ended well, and tonight just further proved my point.  However, most people seem to find a little mention of attraction to be a good thing, so I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

We texted off and on all day, and just like yesterday, he kept mentioning meeting in very flirty ways, but wouldn't get on with it.  In my sleep deprived state, and with dates with Milton and Engi-Nerd looming overhead, I finally demanded that Miami Vice either get serious about meeting or move on.  So, he got serious about meeting and suggested we get together for a casual dinner tonight.  Be careful what you wish for.

Pre-Game

 

Since this was supposed to be a casual dinner, and I was becoming increasingly suspicious of Miami Vice's motives, I didn't even change clothes from what I had worn to work today.  "Yeah, that'll show him," I thought.  The problem with that theory is that it's predicated on the idea that a guy will be able to tell if you've put any effort into your look or not.   They can't.  Plus, it's not like I look homeless or anything when I go to work.  I'm a classy career woman.  I look the part.  By virtue of the fact that I showed up for the date, he felt like he'd won.  There's nothing I could have done in the looks department to sully that victory.

 

At any rate, here's how I looked for the date:

 

 

 

The Date

 

We were supposed to meet at a burger place that he picked based on his suggestion of a casual dinner and my hankering for a cheeseburger.  He picked a location of this particular chain that's in Edmond even after I suggested there was a new location closer to both of us.  He wouldn't be swayed.  Oh well, some people can't be saved.  He was late meeting me because he had to handle some work calls.  When he finally showed up, the restaurant was so crowded that we decided it would be better to go someplace else.  Here's where I'd like to point out that we probably could have eaten at the other location just fine because it's not as busy.  Why can't the world just get on board with the fact that I'm right almost all the time? 

 

I decided to ride with him to the next restaurant.  In a lot of ways, this was risky, but I'd vetted him through some current and former coworkers who knew him, so I was pretty sure he was harmless.  I could tell based on our incredibly forced conversation in the car that it was going to be the longest date ever.  He had a hard time deciding on another restaurant, so when he finally suggested sushi, I readily agreed.  By that point, I would have settled for a Slurpee and a burrito at the local 7-11.  This guy, who is so flirty and forward by text, is an emotionless brick wall in person.  His expression never changed the whole night. 

 

When we got to the sushi place, the hostess handed him one of those disc-shaped pagers from hell and told him it would be about a 25 minute wait.  I almost cried.  We waited outside because it wasn't too cold, and PRAISE GOD, the little pager went off about 5 minutes later.  We ordered beer and sushi and settled in for the long wait that usually ensues at any decent sushi establishment.  The Lord smiled upon me again, because the sushi arrived very quickly.  The food was good.  The conversation was not.  The beer was necessary.

 

 

The Good

• It was getting pretty difficult to juggle 3 different guys, so I guess I'm glad to get this guy out of the lineup.
• He was perfectly nice, and he paid for dinner which I appreciated.

The Bad

• The conversation was so difficult.  Since we have both worked for the same company in the past, that's pretty much all we had to talk about.  He has a good job, and is no doubt good at it, but talking about work gets really old after about 10 minutes.  I tried to get other topics going, but he just couldn't expound enough on any topic to sustain the conversation.  He didn't really ask me many questions, so the conversation felt very one sided.
• Even if I thought the conversation could improve - I mean, everyone's entitled to be nervous on the first date - the physical chemistry wasn't right.  He's handsome enough, but it's just not there for me.
• The sushi place was really loud and had TV's all over the place showing various sports games.  I've never been to a sushi restaurant/sports bar.  Miami Vice was looking about 6 inches above my head most of the night.  Finally, I looked behind me to see a wall-mounted television showing a cat litter commercial.  I called him out on the fact that the commercial could not possibly be more interesting than what I was saying.  He responded with assurances that there was a football game on and he was adept at multitasking.  Awesome.

The Ugly

• When he took me back to my car, he walked me to the door, and we stood there awkwardly.  He mentioned going out again, and I sort of side-stepped by making an incoherent noise.  Hopefully he'll take that to either mean no or that I'm not mentally competent.  Either way, fingers crossed it gets me out of a second date. 
• He hugged me, like for real, and for a long time.  Now I know how Old Ginger Spice felt.  As I'm sitting here writing this post, I can still smell his cologne.  And I've already changed into pajamas.  I fear the scent has permeated my skin and will be with me forever.  To be fair, it's not a bad scent, but I'm not sure I want it to be my signature scent.
• He texted me that he had a great time and that he thought we'd had great conversation tonight.  Were we on the same date?  He also mentioned that he regrets not kissing me.  I.....I can't even....no......

 

 

Today's Updates

• I'm obviously not going to go on a second date with Miami Vice.  I am happy to be able to close that chapter and move on.  We'll see if he asks me out again, but I figure if he continues to text me, I'll just let him down easy.  Now if I could just find a way to get rid of the smell...
• I've texted with Milton a little bit today.  He has planned our date for tomorrow - we're going to go eat sushi (I know - two days in a row) at one of my favorite places in Bricktown and then go see a movie.  Normally, I wouldn't want to go on a movie date so early in getting to know someone, but we'll have dinner before, and then who knows if we might do something after the movie.  Plus, I know our conversation skills are solid, so it's just a matter of finding out more about him, which just takes time.  I've given him my address and asked him to pick me up for the date.  I feel perfectly safe doing this.
• I've also texted a little bit with Engi-Nerd.  He sent me a selfie before he got on the road to Dallas.  That's the 3rd time he's sent me a selfie since we've been texting.  I've never asked him to send those pics, and to his credit, he's never asked me for one in return.  Being a self-respecting hater of the sorority sister movement, I have not sent him one, mostly because I don't take any.  However, after receiving his pic today, I decided it would only be fair if I sent him one, so I sent the pic at the top of this post.  He thanked me for it and commented that it was a great picture of me and that I am "quite attractive."  I am very uncomfortable with everything that happened here, but I think I did the right thing.  When in doubt, I try to remember WWNGD - What Would a Normal Girl Do?