Weekend Update Part 2 {Online Dating Edition}

Better late than never!

So I was scheduled for two dates this past weekend, one Friday night and another Saturday afternoon.

I had been emailing back and forth with Friday Night Man for a week or so, he seemed nice, he's my age, a graphic designer in the area, and said he had a break from work on Friday night if I was available. I didn't have any plans so I said sure. I asked where he wanted to meet, and he suggested the local mall.

Food court.

Um, hm.

This didn't sit well with me- going on a date to the local mall food court on a Friday night. But being someone who hasn't gone on a date in years, who am I to complain. I agreed.

Saturday Afternoon Man and I had been emailing for about a week, and unfortunately he's not my ideal- nine years older than me and has a child. I know that as time goes on the chances of me meeting someone without children are smaller and smaller, but a girl can hope, right? So I begrudgingly agreed to coffee at 4:00 on Saturday afternoon at a local coffee shop.

Friday came around, and I went to dinner with my Dad (with Mom out of town visiting my sister, my Dad often turns into my dinner date) and then was early getting to the mall. I went to a few stores to check out what they had killing time until 8:00. Of course there were students everywhere. I avoided a good three of them while perusing the stores waiting until 8:00 sharp to head over the food court. At 8:00 sharp I made my way over to the food court.

There was no single gentleman in sight. What the eff?

I looked around for a minute, and then walked into adjacent Macy's to check out the shoes. Then returned to the food court to check again. Nothing. So I walked up to the movies and waited there until 8:05 where I decided one last time to check out the food court.

Nothing.

At this point I've spoken to three students and I've reached my limit. Anxiety is setting in and I'm done. So I leave and when I get to my car send him a message saying that I waited but didn't see him so I was heading home. Punctuality is a must in my book (MFT you're exempt from this) so I was annoyed. When I got home I saw a message from him saying he was at the pizza place, I think it was sent at 8:08. I wrote back and apologized for not waiting longer but that I felt uncomfortable with all the students around. He understood and suggested we try again. I wasn't upset at all that this date didn't happen so I'm not in a rush to reschedule. I have a busy schedule for the next few weeks so I said once I return from visiting my sister we may try again.

Or not. I'm not worried about it.

Date Number Two of the weekend was supposed to take place the next day. I went to Pound class at Mind Body Barre in the morning, and decided that I was going to take a trip to a nicer mall about a half an hour away, later that afternoon. When I got out of class my Dad had called, and was planning on picking up my brother who goes to college near the mall, and taking him to the mall as well as to a late lunch. Free meal and a trip to the mall not on my gas? Done and done. So I texted Saturday Afternoon Man around 11:00 and told him that I was going to have to cancel our coffee date, and I apologized for the inconvenience. I felt bad, but at the same time, wasn't super psyched about this date to begin with, so I didn't feel heartbroken. A dear friend reminded me of a very fitting MBB mantra which freed me from further guilt about canceling, "Work smarter, not harder." I took that to apply because of his a.) Age b.) Having a child c.) Having a borderline mullet in a few of his profile pics, that I really shouldn't be working this hard to date just anyone. Keep my standards up, and that's what I'm doing from here on out.

By mid-week this week I was even considering canceling my month subscription to the dating site early. I didn't get around to it yesterday, and when I got home from watching XFactor with my Mom, I saw I had an email from someone on the website. I checked it out, and was pleasantly surprised. He's seemingly attractive, my age, also in education, local, and used proper grammar and spelling in his email. I allowed myself to get a little excited and replied about a half hour later.

Truth be told though, I'm a little apprehensive as he seems too good to be true based on prior experience with the website, but I'm reserving final judgement for the time being. On this front I shall obviously keep you posted on any updates!