For the Sake of the Fans...

What fans, you may ask? Good question. Really, I just have friends. And my friends think it's funny to ask me to do things "for the sake of the fans."

So, on Sunday, at the insistence of my "fans," I went on a date with the Dunkin Donuts guy. Remember him?

(Truthfully, I went out with him because I'm trying to give nice guys a chance, as long as the reasons I'm not into them seem frivolous. In the past, I've given jerks all kinds of chances to prove my first impressions wrong. But, I've never been good at giving second chances to guys who just don't excite me at first. I'm trying to be better at that.)

When we talked on the phone, I was totally turned off by his accent. At some point he had vaguely claimed to have "grown up" near Boston, so I assumed his was the worst Boston accent I had ever heard. But, the second he pulled up in his Mercedes Hybrid SUV and flashed his TAG watch, it was pretty clear he wasn't from Boston.

First, Dunks guy was a bit more swarthy than I had expected. No worries. I don't mind swarthy! But, it was pretty obvious that his Boston accent was being enhanced by something a bit more foreign.

It takes him a full hour to admit it, but he's a Jew from a Middle Eastern country. (No, not Israel. And, yes, I remember which country it is. But, I'd hate to give too much info about this guy on a public blog, so we'll leave it at that.)

He fled his home as a young teenager and sought asylum in the US. His parents couldn't leave, so he came alone. He came here with nothing and is clearly now quite successful. I'm not a person who's turned on by signs of wealth (like the watch and the car. I might notice them, but that doesn't mean I'm impressed by them!) But, I am impressed by someone who made so much out of so little. That's pretty cool.

Unfortunately, I wasn't attracted to Dunks Guy, physically or intellectually. At the end of the night, he said something like, "You can pick the place next time." I kinda giggled and said, "I'll think about it." I think he got the hint, because I haven't heard from him since.

I never know what to say in that situation. When a guy asks me out the first time, and I'm not interested, it's easy. A simple "no, thank you" is perfectly appropriate. But, when you've just gotten up from across the dinner table after having a perfectly decent time, it seems so much more personal. And I guess it is. I'll have to think a little on whether I handled that in the best possible way.

Anyway, one of my friends later suggested that I should have gone on a second date, just so I could count his gold chains. She says every guy of this ilk she's met has been wearing at least two or three gold chains.

I don't remember looking for gold chains, so I am curious to learn if he wears any. But, going on a second date with a guy I know I'm not into sounds just...well...rude.

So, here are some things I won't do, for the sake of the fans.

1. I will not lead a nice guy on when I know I'm not interested. (Yes. The use of the word "nice" is on purpose. I have yet to decide if I'll lead a jerk on, just to document exactly how much of a jerk he is!)

2. I will not do anything icky! (This rule was born when a friend suggested I should contact TMI guy again, just to see where the conversation would go this time. Remember TMI Guy? Yeah, gross enough already. I don't need to hear any more!)

3. I will not write about guys I'm really interested in. This is the tough one, because when I meet someone I actually like, I certainly want to let everyone know. But, I went on a really, really good date on Monday and I just can't bring myself to write about it here. Maybe I think I'll jinx it? Or, more likely, I just think it's kinda rude. (Rude seems to be the word of the day! Apparently I'm in a very polite mood this evening.)

So, I promise, if this one crashes and burns, I'll tell ya all about it. In the meantime, I still have 19 of the 20 first dates to tell you about!