79.1

It had been a week since I'd given Seventy-nine my number when he finally texted me, "Hi Penelope! I won't be there tonight, but I'd love to spend time with you later this week." We coordinated and made plans to meet up after work another day. That day at work was rough mentally and emotionally, so I was probably not in the best mental state for a first date. Add to that the fact that I never had time to grab food after work and then met Seventy-nine at a bar for a drink, so I was all over the place. I did my best to pull myself together as we sat in a booth at a quiet bar and talked.

When we left the bar he immediately and very naturally held my hand as he took me to get a pint of ice cream to share while we walked around. At some point he made a reference to The Simpsons and I broke it to him that I've never been in to any of those animated shows, to which he commented "Well, this is going to be a short-lived, but fun relationship."

Facts I learned about Seventy-nine during our date: he's from Mexico but lived in France from ages 3-18. He moved to the states for college and decided to stay. He's lived in SF for more than 10 years and is a year older than I am. Music festivals and Burning Man are major passions of his, and for work he does something with tech and video games that went way over my head.

At the end of the evening he asked what my weekend plans were and suggested that we could go out again. I hesitated. I don't know why, but I did. He could sense it and said that we should touch base on Sunday and meet up. On my way home I thought about how he was nice and interesting, but that I wasn't really into him - classic NGB (nice guy, but....). We texted each other on Sunday and decided neither of us had time to meet. The following day he sent me a polite and mature message, "Hi Penelope. After some reflection, I don't think there's a spark for us to pursue a romantic relationship, but I hope that we can be friends and if nothing else dance partners." Phew! What a relief that we were on the same page and that he initiated the conversation rather than the all too popular "ghosting" technique that people seem to do these days. I replied to his message that I felt the same and that we could definitely be friends and tear up the dance floor together. I haven't seen him since, but I did reach out to him a few weeks later and told him we missed him on the dance floor, and he said he'd be back soon.

Seventy-nine gives me hope for the dating world that there are great guys out there and that they are fun AND mature.