Week Three (Update): Jason, Eventually
I went on a date! My first of ThursDating and first since July. It was with Jason (of Week Two fame), and it was… fine.
On the urging of multiple people, I set up a location and time with Jason prior to the night of the date, hoping to prevent further bailing/ghosting issues. I picked the dive-iest bar I know in New York, and we agreed on 8pm. At 7:30, wrapping up dinner with a friend (and half a bottle of wine in! Never let it be said I don’t know how to have fun) I warned him that I might be 10 minutes late. Jason said he might be 10 minutes late, too.
I arrived at 8:07. I sat at the bar. I ordered a gin and tonic. I’m a strong, independent woman who buys her own drinks (especially when they’re $5). I eavesdropped on people. I was keenly observed by some old Ukrainian men. 8:15 passed, 8:30, 8:40. I decided that I’d leave at 9, as embarrassing as it might be. 8:52 — a tap on the shoulder.
Jason arrived. Technically only 42 minutes late, and offering no excuses or apologies for that lateness. He sat next to me and ordered a beer.
I won’t go through the conversation point by point — it wasn’t natural, but it wasn’t painful, either. Mostly, we didn’t have a ton in common, which can be fine, but there were two main things that kept hampering my conversational fireworks:
- 1) Brother was 24. I’m 21. He clearly thought that this was an age differential that really meant something. And jeez, it might for some people. But he just kept explaining things to me. Basic things. It was actually kinda rude.
- 2) I don’t think he thought I’d be funny. Bitch, what?
I think he had ear piercings in college. He only had a part-time job. He was cuter in the dark than he was after he asked if I wanted to go get pizza, despite the fact that I’d had a second drink (which he did buy. He gets points for that) and he was a straight man offering me pizza.
Whilst he ate pizza, Jason tried to tell me how to get a job.
At that point, I was done.
I told him I had friends to meet up with. He said he’d text me. He hasn’t. I’m 100% cool with it. At the beginning of writing this, I was actually a lot less annoyed with Jason than I am now, but remembering some of this stuff has completely killed my interest in a second date with him.
Arguably, this was my first ‘normal’ online date — in that it wasn’t just a hookup, and it won’t lead to a bunch of further dates. It was just a date. And I went on it.
Bring on Week Four.
