My friends and I went through our twenties and into our early thirties dating, dating, and dating. Unfortunately, most of our dates were with all the wrong guys! Relatives and sometimes utter strangers would ask the question, “So, why is a pretty girl like you single?” Usually, I would just smile and politely say, “I don’t know, guess I haven’t met the right guy.” But on the inside I was thinking, if only they had a few hours to kill, I could enlighten them on exactly why myself and others like me were single.
My friends and I used to get together for drinks and compare our dating disaster stories, each one better than the next. I myself had one date that came to mind which I would like to forget. I had just moved to a new area and met a guy who seemed really nice. He was cute, had his own company, and seemed like a real catch. We talked for awhile and decided to make a plan to go out. On the day of the date, he came and picked me up at a friend’s house, we went to dinner and had a really good time. I didn’t think much of the fact that he didn’t know me too well and had asked me to his sister’s wedding which was a few weeks away. Well, two days later I received not only a phone call from him, but several. Then he decided to do a “pop-in” just to see if I was home. Then, during the week, several more unexpected visits from him. I would no sooner walk in the door from work and he would be right behind me ringing my bell! In a two-week time, at least five pop-ins and an endless number of phone calls. It was all too much, too fast and I told him I just wasn’t ready to date. Okay, date HIM, that is. Hello Stalker.
Not to be outdone, my friend Paula reminded us of her “winner” in the dating world. She had been dating this guy on and off for several months when it became apparent to her that he might be seeing someone else. Doing some investigative work, as only us girls know how to do best without being detected, she discovered that he was indeed “seeing” someone else. When confronted, he admitted to her that he was cheating on her but would not reveal, at first, with whom. After a lot of crying (mostly on his part) she found out he had been seeing his own cousin! Believe it or not, he was actually proud of the fact that she was a second cousin, as if that made it okay. Needless to say she dumped him immediately.
Then of course, there was Ari and her “disappearing arm” guy who she went on a date with. Ari met this guy online and found out he actually went to the same high school we did but graduated a couple years ahead of us. She worked with someone who was friends with him and said what a great guy he was, very nice, good personality, etc. So, she decided to go out with him. They went to dinner and everything was good. She was having a great time and thought, finally, a guy who seems “normal.” Well, after dinner they went to the movies and halfway through the movie she looked over at him and noticed something strange ... one arm had completely disappeared. On further investigation, she noticed that not just his hand, but his whole arm was down the front of his pants and stayed that way throughout the whole movie! She was horrified! What was going on? When the movie ended, she quickly got up and they left the theater and she didn’t mention anything to him. He acted like nothing had happened. The next day at work, she had a hard time but finally mentioned to her co-worker (who is friends with him) what happened. The co-worker said, “That’s normal for him, it’s just what he does.” Ari was shocked that other people knew about this “odd” habit of his and no one thought anything of it. Two days later “arm man” called her; she declined the invite to go out again.
I keep telling my friends that we should write a book on dating disasters because we all have had our share of them. The good thing is, when they happen we may not be smiling, but looking back on most of them, we all get a good laugh out of them.
