I’ve only ever been on two blind dates.
One of them was back in the mid-90s, at the end of my round-the-world backpacking year. I’d been given an introduction to a young lawyer in New York by someone I’d met in Hong Kong several months earlier. I didn’t know many other people in the city, so I decided to look her up.
Things didn’t start off well: it rained, she had to come across the river from Brooklyn, there were no cabs, she was very late. However, she had nominated a rather cosy little bar to meet in, so I was passing time happily enough. And once she showed up, the evening went extraordinarily well: we found we had a lot in common.
The only hiccup was when she asked, over dinner, what some of my favourite movies were. I considered fibbing, trying to ingratiate myself with some well-known, accessible, uncontentious, female-friendly examples. I considered that strategy for about half a second, before blurting out… Dark Star, Harold and Maude, and The Hairdresser’s Husband.
She hadn’t heard of any of them.
But she respected my honesty and my passion.
[I’ve repeated that selection on here once before (OK, twice), but without mentioning this story.]
4 comments:
As I was reading that and just before I got to your selections I was thinkng "don't say Harold and Maude"... I remember that somewhere earlier you mentioned this as a favorite, and while I wouldn't knock the film (you liked it a lot more than I did though) it was downright creepy and I'd never mention it as a favorite on a blind date.
But now you've left us a bit hanging. Whatever happened? If that was the only hiccup, then things went pretty well, because her not having heard of those movies is a heck of a better scenario than her having heard of them. Did you continue to see her, what happened?
Ah, well, I was flying back to the UK a day or two later, so it never developed into anything. We were pen-friends for a while (I found a video of Dark Star and sent that to her; I thought it might be better not to push the other two!), and I looked her up again once or twice on subsequent visits.
She was, in any event, a bit out of my league, I fear.
When she finally showed up in the bar (she was about 80 minutes late; in the days before cellphones, you had to be very patient), my attention was drawn to her by the fact that a line of dour old codgers at the bar all suddenly turned their heads towards the door in unison - and, I swear, one by one their jaws sagged open in amazement. Then I looked at her myself, and thought, "Wow - this can't be her, surely?!" Way too gorgeous for a bar like that, or to be going on a date with me.
This is a long time ago. She probably has teenage kids now. (I hope they/ve enjoyed Dark Star!)
Your comment got diverted to the Spam folder at first, HF. Can't think why that happened - there doesn't seem to be anything 'spammy' about it!
I think blogger was acting up yesterday. It wouldn't let me post, finally it relented, then checking it later on to see if it 'took'... poof it vanished.
Hearing the rest, I think you had mentioned her and this date before, something seems familiar here. Funny imagining the scene of her coming into the bar, seems like on a blind date the thought that goes through one's head is the same "please don't let that be her". Either because she is a bit frightening or she is clearly in another league and panic sets in. Sounds like you handled it well though, be interesting to find out 'what is she up to now?'.
I recently had a girl track me down over a social networking site whom I'd had a brief encounter with about 15 years ago. It was fun catching up and hearing the different twists and turns our lives had taken. I truly enjoyed talking with her but afterwards I immediately scrubbed myself clean of all 'social media', was a bit disturbing how easy it was for the past to come knocking at your door. Most of the past that was meaningful I have maintained contact with, so I didn't see much benefit and a whole lot of downside with such easy access with the rest of it, but again, we're both in agreement on social media for a variety of reasons in addition to this one.
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