|
sublingua | |||||
| The heart with a mind of its own.(Be present.) | The mind with a heart of its own.(It's past.) | The dream that is your waking life.(Go there now.) | |||
|
Bachelor No. 1
So I just got back from coffee with the guy (I guess I shouldn't keep calling him "the guy," his name is Matthew) from match.com. It was fine. We met at a coffeehouse in the heights. We walked in the door at about the same time. I had told him that I'd wear red so that I would be highly visible, and as I walked in, I saw another woman, about my height, but with longish streaky brownish-blond hair also wearing red. I thought, uh-oh, but no, there came Matthew, saying very tentatively to me, "Sublingua?" And we shook hands. We stood in line to order. I had an Americano and a fruit tart and he had a cup of Earl Grey and a fruit tart (ordered after I ordered mine). As we waited for the counter guy to make our drinks, I told him that I was going to ask him about his experiences with online dating. He got a little more nervous and said, "We should keep our voices down. It's kind of embarrassing." And I was, like, if it's so embarrassing, then why are you doing it? But that was a cynical thought and I squelched it. I asked instead about his family (a mom, a dad, two older sisters and a brother, he's the youngest). His parents, he said, come out to visit about twice a year. Conversation wasn't particularly easy with him. I'm used to chatting away though--all those years of waitressing when I had to walk up to total strangers and get them to like me pay off in situations like this. He had just returned from a distant city, so I asked him if he had gone for work purposes. No, he explained, he's the organist in a small Episcopalian church. He doesn't really play the organ, he said. I asked if he just turned the crank like on a player piano. (I often think I'm very clever when I say things like this, but he only found that mildly humorous, though he was very earnestly polite in his expression of mildly humorous.) I think I said that it was nice of him to drive all that way just for a church service. Then I asked about his other online dating experiences. He was more than happy to tell me about the girl he met on Friday and how he didn't realize until he was climbing into her car to drive to the theater where they had tickets to see Le Mis that the back of her car was plastered with pro-W bumper stickers. (He's quite liberal in his political views and he watched me very closely as he told the pro-W bumper sticker story to see if I was also pro-W.) I groaned at the thought of riding in a car plastered with pro-W bumper stickers, and that seemed to put him at ease a little bit. But like I said, conversation wasn't easy, and I kept up a patter interspersed with a volley of questions about his family, his travels, his ex-girlfriend, his other online dating experience, his educational background, his interest in motorcycles. He didn't have a lot of questions for me outside of general motorcycle interest kind of things. We finished our drinks and desserts, and I asked if he would like to meet some of my other friends sometime. He agreed and we parted ways, my intentions to add him to my friend list put into motion. It was fine. I'm glad I went and did it. Now I have something to tell Judi when she gets back. (Which is about the only compelling reason to do anything anymore I think...)
More lies:
|
|||||