By next day my enthusiasm for Purple Rain in the Park had abated. In addition to being exhausted from work, I still was in a bad mood from the previous night’s conversation with Cheapo. Then to make matters worse, it had started to rain.
I thought about canceling the date, but dreaded having to face another passive aggressive conversation with Cheapo, especially after giving him my “I follow through on my word” speech. Instead, I decided it would be better to suggest a change in plans. The movie would likely be rained out and I needed time to decompress before the date.
I called him to propose my changes and said, “Hey, so I was thinking it might be best if…” But, before I could finish my sentence he interrupted and said, “What cancel…?”
Are you for real? Didn’t we talk about this issue less than 24 hours ago? With what little patience I had left, I said, “Actually, I was going ask if we could meet up a bit later, maybe around 8pm. I need time to decompress from work. After all, I wouldn’t want to be in a bad mood on our date. We should also reconsider the movie in the park since its raining.”
He tried to play it cool and responded, “Oh, yeah, I figured the movie might get rained out. Maybe we could go to a hookah bar instead.” I shook my head and simply said, “I’ll call you when I’m ready.” and quickly hung up the phone.
In preparation for my date, I called a girlfriend to get her recommendations for a good hookah bar. She half-jokingly suggested a no cover B.Y.O.B hookah bar because Cheapo would likely jump at the prospect of saving money on drinks. I confessed my reservations about going on another date with Cheapo. My gut was telling me this was not a good idea. She reassured it would be fine and offered to stop by the bar incase I needed “saving.” I don’t normally use my lifelines, but the more I thought about it the better it sounded. She should definitely stop by to meet Cheapo. Who knows, she may get an entirely different impression than what I have been describing.
As we rode the train downtown, I made sure to mention my girlfriend. I said, “Hey I hope you don’t mind, but my girlfriend, who recommended the hookah bar, lives in the area and might be stopping by to say hi.”
In all fairness, I honestly wasn’t trying to surprise him or put him on the spot, but I was curious to see his interactions with someone else. He didn’t seem bothered and simply said, “Yeah that’s cool.”
As we rode the train downtown, I made sure to mention my girlfriend. I said, “Hey I hope you don’t mind, but my girlfriend, who recommended the hookah bar, lives in the area and might be stopping by to say hi.”
In all fairness, I honestly wasn’t trying to surprise him or put him on the spot, but I was curious to see his interactions with someone else. He didn’t seem bothered and simply said, “Yeah that’s cool.”
We stepped into a liquor store, on our way to the hookah bar, to pick up a bottle of wine. As I perused through the Argentinean Malbecs and Italian Chiantis, I was conscious of choosing the least expensive wine whose taste would not be comprised by price. After all, cheap or not, I wasn’t restoring to having bad wine on his account. As we approached the cash register, I prayed he would pay for the bottle.
“That will be $15” said the clerk.
He opened his wallet, pulled out $7 dollars and said, “She said $14 right?”
I chuckled, took his money and made sure he watched as I pulled out a $20 and said, “Yeah that’s fine.” I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what was sure to be a penny pinching evening.
“That will be $15” said the clerk.
He opened his wallet, pulled out $7 dollars and said, “She said $14 right?”
I chuckled, took his money and made sure he watched as I pulled out a $20 and said, “Yeah that’s fine.” I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what was sure to be a penny pinching evening.
We walked out of the liquor store and, by coincidence, ran into my girlfriend. Perfect timing! I introduced her to Cheapo and hoped for the best. At this point, he could either sink or swim; instead he chose to drown. My girlfriend tried to engage him in conversation by asking about his work and family background, but he responded with curt answers and a lack of interest. As we walked to the bar, he fell 5 feet behind us choosing to engage with his blackberry rather than us.
We arrived at the hookah bar to discover there was a $15 corkage fee and a 2 person maximum per hookah. While my girlfriend and I agreed it clearly made no sense to open the wine, Cheapo continued to remain quiet and standoffish.
In an effort to engage Cheapo I asked, “So what do you think? Do you still want to stay for the hookah?”
Having finally returned from whatever far away land he was at he snapped, “Call me cheap, but I’m not going to spend $15 to open a bottle of wine I just bought.”
You see, if you were listening you would know that we already decided NOT to open the wine, and you would have heard the question I was actually asking!
I snapped back, “Yeah we know that. We already decided not to open the bottle. The question I’m asking you is if you want to stay here for the hookah?”
He veered his eyes away from me and said, “Whatever.”
Oh, hell no! Was he really getting an attitude with me? I just about to tell him off when my friend jumped in and said, “Let’s just go somewhere else. I know of a better hookah bar just around the corner. I don’t think it’s a B.Y.O.B, but it has hookahs, food and drinks.”
I grabbed my purse and walked out of the bar. This time I was the one walking 5 feet ahead, but it didn’t faze him. Instead, he continued typing on his blackberry. My girlfriend sped and tried her best to calm me down. She told me not to judge him too quickly and suggested he was likely uncomfortable with having a third wheel on the date. She assured me she’d leave as soon as we got to the next bar.
At this point, I could have care less about what he was uncomfortable with. I turned to her and said, “You don’t have to leave. It’s not your fault he doesn’t have the necessary social skills to be around people.” We arrived at the next bar where it took Cheapo no more than 5 minutes to scan the menu, close it and say, “I’m a bit hungry. I’m going outside to get a slice of pizza. I’m down for whatever flavor for hookah.”
Without another word, he got up and walked out. What was going on here? Was this a joke? Was I on candid camera? This guy can’t be for real! First of all, how are you going to walk out to get yourself food? There’s food on the menu! Second of all, he didn’t even ask me if I was hungry! What if I was hungry too? Matter of fact, I was hungry!
My girlfriend looked at me in disbelief and said, "Oh my god, did he just leave to get food? Please tell me he didn't just walk out to get food for himself?
I couldn't believe what just happened. I attempted to respond, but I was speechless. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of processing, I said, "I need a drink" and ordered us 2 glasses of wine.
Will Cheapo have the nerve to return to the date? Stay tuned for part 4 of Pay for My Damn Taco.
We arrived at the hookah bar to discover there was a $15 corkage fee and a 2 person maximum per hookah. While my girlfriend and I agreed it clearly made no sense to open the wine, Cheapo continued to remain quiet and standoffish.
In an effort to engage Cheapo I asked, “So what do you think? Do you still want to stay for the hookah?”
Having finally returned from whatever far away land he was at he snapped, “Call me cheap, but I’m not going to spend $15 to open a bottle of wine I just bought.”
You see, if you were listening you would know that we already decided NOT to open the wine, and you would have heard the question I was actually asking!
I snapped back, “Yeah we know that. We already decided not to open the bottle. The question I’m asking you is if you want to stay here for the hookah?”
He veered his eyes away from me and said, “Whatever.”
Oh, hell no! Was he really getting an attitude with me? I just about to tell him off when my friend jumped in and said, “Let’s just go somewhere else. I know of a better hookah bar just around the corner. I don’t think it’s a B.Y.O.B, but it has hookahs, food and drinks.”
I grabbed my purse and walked out of the bar. This time I was the one walking 5 feet ahead, but it didn’t faze him. Instead, he continued typing on his blackberry. My girlfriend sped and tried her best to calm me down. She told me not to judge him too quickly and suggested he was likely uncomfortable with having a third wheel on the date. She assured me she’d leave as soon as we got to the next bar.
At this point, I could have care less about what he was uncomfortable with. I turned to her and said, “You don’t have to leave. It’s not your fault he doesn’t have the necessary social skills to be around people.” We arrived at the next bar where it took Cheapo no more than 5 minutes to scan the menu, close it and say, “I’m a bit hungry. I’m going outside to get a slice of pizza. I’m down for whatever flavor for hookah.”
Without another word, he got up and walked out. What was going on here? Was this a joke? Was I on candid camera? This guy can’t be for real! First of all, how are you going to walk out to get yourself food? There’s food on the menu! Second of all, he didn’t even ask me if I was hungry! What if I was hungry too? Matter of fact, I was hungry!
My girlfriend looked at me in disbelief and said, "Oh my god, did he just leave to get food? Please tell me he didn't just walk out to get food for himself?
I couldn't believe what just happened. I attempted to respond, but I was speechless. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of processing, I said, "I need a drink" and ordered us 2 glasses of wine.
Will Cheapo have the nerve to return to the date? Stay tuned for part 4 of Pay for My Damn Taco.
No comments:
Post a Comment