Date 4 Report

Where to begin? I'm so friggin' mad right now, I can hardly think straight!!!

When I first talked to this guy a few nights ago, I wasn't too enthused after our conversation, but put it down to nerves (both his and mine). I had found him difficult to talk to and quite negative in a lot of his responses, but decided the only way to really decide was to meet him. So, we decided to meet this afternoon at a cafe of his choosing. Now, understand that when you meet someone at 1pm on a Sunday afternoon in a place that is more restaurant than cafe - there is going to be a crowd. I arrived a few minutes early and noticed a few people hanging around outside but didn't pay particular attention to see if one of these people was the guy I was meeting. Went inside, waited a few minutes for a table and sat down. This guys comes in about 5 minutes later and tells me that he saw me go in, but didn't stop me, even though he thought it was me. (Is it me, or is that ... well, stupid?) I'll tell you why I didn't recognize him. The picture I had of this guy was about 10 years old (again this happens!).

He sat down and had a look around. It suddenly dawns on him that everyone is having breakfast/lunch. We ordered our coffee. I got a bowl of fruit too because I hadn't eaten lunch yet. He started complaining that he wasn't used to coffee (why he didn't order tea from the 50 types they had, I don't know.)

Conversation got off to a slow start (now I am comparing him to the great date I had yesterday). And it didn't get any easier. Finally, I was starting to feel rather like a chatterbox and told him speak up, interrupt, take part in the conversation a little. Now, I could've said it mean and snarky, but I didn't - I was trying to funny about it. It didn't work. At all. He got a little upset. OK - my bad.

Then I started on another round of questions. I tried to talk about music - he wasn't interested. I tried to talk about books. He hadn't anything to say about them, except for The Merchant of Venice which he read in high school. I tried again. What were some of the most recent books he had read. Answer: Dan Brown's books (and he thought they were good).

I tried to talk to him about my experience volunteering in Panama last year and about the gifts I had recently helped collect for the girls. This didn't go over so well with him. He pretty much told me that I wasn't helping these kids by providing them with gifts simply to subscribe to the North American consumer attitude (or something like that), that the time I spent was more beneficial to them than any "gift". Maybe I shouldn't have taken it so personally, but I did. In fact, I was pretty insulted.

That's when I picked up my cheque and walked to the cash. Outside he asked if I wanted him to call me. (WHAT???) I said no. Total length of date: 40 minutes. I think this might be a new record for me.

Analysis: 2/10. Making me spitting mad on a first date is a guaranteed no call back.