Joe6 came to me through PlentyOfFish, but he talked me into going over to BikerOrNot, which I was a member of but didn't use much. It's like a watered down Facebook for bikers with a lot of singles. It's pretty cool.
Anyway, Joe6 definitely has the spiritual thing going for him, which was very clear up front. We messaged a couple of times and quickly moved on to the telephone. I hate talking on the phone. Our first conversation was over an hour; the second one was closer to two and a half. Impressive. Great voice. He sounded like a very solid person, genuine. I enjoyed talking to him. Unfortunately he lives up in the mountains, and not right on a fast and easy route. It seemed like meeting face-to-face was going to take some time. I'm working this weekend. He had stuff to do. I blew a gasket on the bike. It was snowing on and off in the mountains. When we talked about him possibly riding down today and maybe meeting up after work, I didn't think much about it. I definitely wanted to meet him, but I didn't get my hopes up or really give it a second thought.
Well I'll be damned if he didn't make it. Picture this: I've been standing in a parking lot all day, teaching the most challenging class EVER. Got about 4 hours sleep the night before. My jeans are too big, and I'm wearing a man-shirt - a long sleeve t-shirt with flames on the sleeves - and three year old LL Bean hiking boots. I'm sunburned, except for the area around my eyes because I was wearing sunglasses (think raccoon). Any makeup applied at 4:00 this morning was long gone. My hair was in pig tails, and because my bangs were pissing me off this morning, I had grabbed a pair of scissors and hacked a few chunks off. After work, I'd done my best to freshen up with a mint from Sonic I found on the floor of my car and some scented lotion. When Joe6 called to tell me he was there, I was on the phone with someone else. I've never swapped calls with this POS cell phone, and I started swearing at the phone. Nice way to impress the Godly man, Abby.
I found him attractive and proceeded to tell him that this was as bad as it would get. I couldn't possibly look any worse than I did when I met Joe6. He was nice enough to not jump on his bike and head for the hills. We went to dinner.
We talked some. He isn't crazy about tattoos. Oops. We hadn't talked about that. I can wear a t-shirt without showing any, but I definitely have some ink. We talked more about relationships, and it started sounding like Joe6 was telling me he wasn't interested in one. It wasn't quite that direct, but I left there feeling like I'd been rejected, like I'd just been given one of those, "It isn't you... It's me," breakup speeches. I could be wrong. We may have some differences in communication. I had e-mailed that I couldn't wait to meet him. I had used "couldn't wait" in lieu of "looking forward to" more because "looking forward to" is something I use in a cover letter. I tell people that I can't wait to see them, but I don't mean it literally. I can wait, but I'm excited about it. Because we had different takes on the seriousness of "I can't wait," I wonder if I misunderstood what he was telling me. Did I read more into his comments than he intended?
He'll be checking this, and we'll probably be discussing it. Or I'll never hear from him again.
Lessons learned:
1. If there's any chance I'll have a first date, throw the cosmetic bag in the saddlebag and pack a decent shirt.
2. Get a haircut when it's needed. Wear sunscreen. Get enough sleep.
3. Watch what I say in e-mails. As a writer, I should know better. Be less vague or consider how some terms might come across to others.
Tired. Have to get up early again in the morning.
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