Forty-five

I tend to zone out when I'm reading a book on the train, so I didn't notice when Forty-five sat down next to me.  However, when he politely said excuse me and asked about the stop he needed, I put my book down to tell him when he should get off and directed him where to go.  Forty-five thanked me and told me that he was coming from the East Bay and normally would drive but that he decided to be adventurous and take Muni for the first time ever today to meet his friends.  I shared all of my Muni knowledge with him, and then for fun added, "You're lucky because today there is also a special for first-time Muni riders to trade numbers with the person next to them for a date."  Luckily he was a good sport (and probably felt relatively safe since I had also just told him the next stop was his, so he would be able to get away from me quickly and safely without being rude); he kind of laughed and said, "My girlfriend loves a good deal, but something tells me she wouldn't like that one." I said, "Fair enough."  With rare perfect timing the train pulled up to his stop a few seconds later, and I told him bye and went back to reading my book.

44.1

After having an OkCupid account for more than a year and a half, I finally had a date!  There is no back story here, other than a simple message about getting a drink.  I was five minutes late and didn't see him anywhere, so I claimed a table by the door and perused the menu with wide eyes because the chosen place was swanky with drinks I didn't understand.  After a few minutes of waiting I got my book out and started reading so I wouldn't get too antsy while I waited.  Fifteen minutes later I was still waiting (we hadn't exchanged numbers, which wouldn't have mattered because I didn't have my phone with me), and I started running images of You've Got Mail in my head: Meg Ryan is waiting for Tom Hanks who is outside, and when he sees who she is he tells his friend he's not going to meet her.  Then I thought maybe he disliked tardiness more than I did and left since I was five minutes late.  I decided to give him a total of thirty minutes before leaving, and with ten minutes to spare he arrived.  He apologized profusely for being late and said he had sent me an email telling me that he would be a few minutes late and then he was standing outside waiting for me while I was sitting inside waiting for him.

He asked what I would like to drink and I told him the fancy drink I had chosen.  He was very concerned whether or not the drink I had chosen had alcohol in it because he didn't want to drink if I wasn't drinking.  I love and hate that mentality; I appreciate the sentiment and respect behind it, but I don't want someone to be uncomfortable because they need a beer to loosen up but feel they can't have one if I'm not drinking - have a drink or two, just don't get sloppy drunk.  In the end, the drink I ordered was some kind of Cosmo, which kicked this non-regular drinker's butt (I swear I took 1.5 hours to sip this drink  - which he matched sip for sip because he's apparently all about an even playing field - and my face got warm and I started wondering if I was talking more loudly than normal).

All in all I had a nice time with Forty-four.  We talked about our favorite San Francisco places, activities, and the naked and/or crazy people seen around the city.  He was extremely polite and chivalrous to the point of offering me a ride home even though it was the complete opposite direction of his apartment.  I told him it wasn't necessary, but he insisted and asked how far it was; I estimated about two miles and then he looked it up on his phone and embarrassingly said, "Oh no, you know it looks too far, and I've had two drinks.  I'm very nervous about getting pulled over."  I told him it was completely fine and that I had planned on taking the bus.  He was so apologetic that I couldn't help but laugh at the whole situation.  While he was a very sweet man, I think he's definitely looking for a serious relationship, so I'm probably not the one for him since I have no idea what I want right now.

43.Fail

Cockiness is not my friend.  After my first date with Forty-three I was 100% confident that there would be a second date; I was 100% wrong.  A week after our first date and a few texts later, he passed by the salon (not on purpose, by the way); when he saw me he came in to say hi.  When we realized we were both going to be out of town that weekend, he told me to get a hold of him when I was back and we would get together.  I followed his instructions, but it turned out he was actually going to be out of town for a couple of extra days.  We texted back and forth for the next few days, and then I finally got to the point and asked him, "What are the chances you and I get to go out soon?"  He replied, "Truthfully I gotta lay low on dating for right now.  Got a little too much on the plate.  Unexpected things have arose that I gotta take care of.  But obviously we will stay in contact!"

Ouch.  You need to know that I'm not much of an emotional person, but this caused a slight fissure in the crush section of my heart since I had been so confident about our connection.  I sucked it up, though, and replied, "High five for the honesty. We'd better stay in touch because I need someone to keep my dancing ego in check.  Good luck with that plate of yours." He responded, "Of course, you're a cool chick."  I wrapped it up by replying, "It's true, I am pretty cool."

Part of me definitely hopes that our paths will cross again soon.  If I don't see him, though, I really do appreciate his honesty rather than the popular alternative that some people take and string others along.