This Isn't the Netherlands...

So the big date with current/former interest was last night. Like I mentioned, he asked me THREE separate times to go on a date with him. I just can't stress that enough.

Like a true gentleman he called the night before and asked if I would like to go on a date with him the next evening. He asked if there was anywhere I would like to go to dinner (if you've ever hung out with me, my answer is ALWAYS "I don't care." I didn't stray from my normal response.). He even arranged a time that he would call me the next day so we could make the final arrangements of our date.

True to his word he called right on time. I still had no preference to what we ate. So he threw out, "Let's go somewhere with TVs because there is a football game on."

Now I know that doesn't sound like a great first date. But if you know that we've talked about football together a lot lately, it wouldn't be so bad. It takes the pressure off of having down time in conversation and gives you something else to talk about. I mean, ideally, it's not the best place for a first date. But, it was appropriate enough for us since we both knew we each liked football.

So he picked me up, walking up to the door to get me (which is on the third floor), also like a true gentleman. He drove us to the shopping center across the street (we had already agreed to go there because it was close and it was a work night). He said when he was driving he saw a Third Base in the shopping center and asked if I minded that we went there. There really isn't that great of restaurants in the shopping center. Take your pick between Chili's, Gattitown, Chinese Buffet, Jason's Deli, Third Base, Steak N' Shake and Taco Bell. Given those options, Third Base is not that bad.

What was bad was the fact that they had the volume of the TVs up to level in which talking consisted of nearly screaming. We get it, they scored a touchdown. Now are you going to provide the Advil I'm going to need to get rid of the headache I'm going to have tomorrow? One decibel louder and it could've been a concert.

The waitress came and asked what we wanted to drink and he turns to me and asks, "do you just want to get a pitcher?"

(Uhhhh....yeah, especially if you are planning on having the rest of the kickball team show up. HUH? Who orders a pitcher on a date....wait, on a FIRST DATE?)

I'm not rude, especially on a date. And it was him who was paying, so if that would make him feel better, so be it. So I said sure. But it turned out it was still happy hour, so it was cheaper to get bottled beers. So that's what we did.

For being a bar and grill, they did have a delicious chicken pesto sandwich. I will say that was good about the place. Or maybe it was the fact that I couldn't think about anything other than how loud the place was and therefore couldn't concentrate on how the food really tastes. Who knows.

We did have some good conversations. We got to learn more about each other. We got to talk football. All-in-all it was nice and comfortable. No awkward lulls or anything.

But where it turned weird again was when the check arrived. I grabbed my card (very slowly, mind you) and handed it his way. And then he asked, "do you just want to split it 50/50?"

(UUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....yeah. Sure. WAIT, WHAT??????)

(I will play devils advocate for just one moment. He is between jobs right now. And by "between" I mean, nine months between. Well not really. But since he's moved to Texas he hasn't had a steady job, just jobs working on a couple of movies, here and there. He did just get hired for a real desk career job, but it doesn't start until the end of the month. But on the other side of that point, I've never seen him hold back on going out due to that fact. So I think we could say it's not a factor as to why he didn't buy. But who knows, cause he surely didn't address the issue.)

I did manage to have better acting skills this time (when compared to the scene I shot with him). I tried to play it off like it was no big deal. But let's be honest, I'm no Julia Roberts (not that she would ever be in this situation, cause she never would), and I have all of about 20 seconds I can hold out my "acting skills" before I break. So I made a fake run to the bathroom.

To which he commented, "You aren't going to run out on me are you? You do only live across the street. You could just run home." I know it was a joke, but in my mind I thought, "Damn, that's not a bad idea, wish I would've thought of it myself." By this point I was already up and on the other side of the table. My purse was still on my chair. Otherwise, I think he did give me a good plan. Besides, my card was in his possession. I have no problem with just cancelling it, but I'm too impatient to wait on the bank to mail me a new one.

I was still in shock as I tried to locate the bathroom. We had been sitting at a table that was tucked away around the corner from the bar. I was slowly walking by the bar scoping the walls for a sign signaling the direction of the bathrooms when I heard, "Hey Jenny!"

I turned and looked, there standing at one of the bar tables was Doug. Doug was one of the guys from the Recreational Hazards kickball team. I couldn't help but think how random it was that I was running into him at that very moment. He pretty much lives downtown and for him to be at a sports bar so far south surprised me. Also, several people told me throughout the kickball season that they thought Doug had the hots for me. I, however, did not have the hots for Doug. Doug was a really cool guy, but, and I can't stress this enough, a really old guy. No lie, he was (and still is, coincidentally) forty. You would never know it from looking or talking to him. But he will be the first to tell you, he is.

Normally if I was on a date and ran into a guy that I thought liked me I would keep it polite, but short and brief. But at this moment I thought, what the hell? This isn't going the best, why not stop and catch up with Doug? So I talked to him for a little bit (seriously not too long...I'm not going to be that rude to my date no matter what happens). He did ask at one point if I was there with some friends, I thought in my mind quickly what I should say and went with yes. Then he followed that with, "well should I come over in a bit and join y'all?"

You could literally see the debate that was going on in my mind on my face and in what I said. It went something like this, "Welllllll............uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh................mmmmmmm.............seeeeeeeeee................actuallly, IIIIIII am sort-of on a date right now."

"Oh, well that would be awkward!" He responded, he is always very hilarious. Luckily, humor never dies with age. But then he did offer that if it wasn't going well he'd come save me or beat the guy up.

(The thought crossed my mind to clue him in on what had just transpired. But my conscious got the better of me and vetoed the idea. But I am pretty sure Doug is "old fashioned," has to be, given his age. He probably would've gone over there and gave current/former interest a piece of his mind. As nice as that would be, lets be honest, going dutch isn't a crime or anything. Some people do accept it widely as being totally fine for a date. I had just 5 minutes earlier realized I was not one of them.)

I thanked him and went on my way. When I returned to the table enough time had passed for the credit cards to be run and him to have finished his beer. I made a joke about how he probably thought I did jump out the window but fessed up to seeing someone I knew on the way to the bathroom.

He drove me back to my place. At this point I still didn't know what to think about the whole date and going dutch. He asked what my plans were for the rest of the night. I knew he wanted to hang out more. It was only 8:30 at this point. I thought, well the date didn't go as I would've hoped, but who knows, maybe there is still something to this guy that I am missing? Like maybe he spends his holidays rescuing puppies from puppy mills and finding good homes for them? Who's to say?

So I invited him up to watch Supernatural, which is the current television series I am Netflixing to catch up on.

(And if you want to make fun of me for watching Supernatural, that's fine. But don't do so until you've watched the first four seasons. Cause I don't think you will after that. Trust me, I would make fun of me if I hadn't watched it before.)

But you better believe I made it just about watching Supernatural. I implemented some great acting skills again with my whole, "Oh wait, what's going on? Is so-and-so about to do such-and-such? I must see this!" That happened every time he tried anything (lift a finger, blink, you name it).

After we watched two episodes I let him know I was going to bed and that I had a good time with him. He thanked me for going to dinner with him.

(Like that needs thanking. Not when the other person pays, at least. It's like thanking someone for feeding themselves. Actually it's not LIKE thanking them for feeding themselves, it IS thanking them for feeding themselves.)

I felt obligated to thank him in return for something. So I said, "Thank you for driving me to dinner." What else was I supposed to thank him for? I don't know if it was bitchy, I don't care, honestly, if it was. I mean, he did invite me to dinner. One would naturally assume the inviter would pay for the invitee, if you are referring to it as a date, at least (which he had made it clear it WAS a date).

So....my overall recap thoughts. He would have to regularly do something damn close to rescuing puppies to be considered by me to date still. Or in the words of Ricky Ricardo, "you got some splainin' to do!" I really am not that upset about the lack of romantics and going to a sports bar. It was appropriate for us. But for some reason the dutch thing kills me! I have never thought about how I would feel about going dutch on a first date before that evening, but I now clearly know I am against it. I have gone dutch on later dates, that's fine. But I feel like the first date is the time for the guys to pull out all the stops. If he can't do that well, then what is there to look forward to?