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April 16, 2008
I Guess I'll Just Check the Box for 25-45 and Not Worry About It
Well, today was awesome.
I got up early today to drop off my car at the Hollywood Pep Boys before work so that I can drive to my weekend work retreat (yay! a weekend with the same people I see 10 hours a day, FABULOUS!) without my car overheating.
And while for the first five minutes on the train to work, I was thinking, hey, I should just brave the extra 30 minutes a day to take the bus (public transport is awesome, Steely Dan and I are ONE, I'll be saving the world, yay!), then the train sat in the station for 15 minutes and I watched two people PICK THEIR NOSES and then grip the Metro poles and I was like, well...
And then! tonight on the way back I made the mistake of taking my earbuds out to respond to some dude who then proceeded to TOUCH MY LEG in the context of telling me how I looked like I played high school sports (?), and I was like, NEVER AGAIN.
But I wouldn't be me if I didn't take life lessons from the dude who molested me on the subway. No, this very-same totally stoned-out-of-his-mind, DJ-cum-budding entrepreneur made me think. He (2 minutes after meeting him) mentioned the high likelihood that we would eventually be married (I think because I was wearing, as Laurie calls it, my Cardigan of Constant Sorrow, which in the minds of men apparently ups the odds you'll take them home and bed them at even the hint of matrimonial intentions). And I was like, "I'm not really looking for that right now, thanks."
Which, you know, is a total lie.
And yet, you would not suspect it was a falsehood given what I'm up to in the dating sphere these days. For some reason (well, he makes me laugh), I'm seeing this 40-some-odd-year-old artist who's relocating to a desert yurt in a few months, and the other prospect is a 25-year-old friend of a friend, who, while cute as an incredibly handsome button in my eyes, doesn't believe that wine really CAN have a hint of apricot, and who after (so I hear) finally working up the courage to ask for my number, proceeded to tell me, "But work is crazy right now, so don't be surprised if I don't call you for a couple weeks."
Uh-huh.
I guess my face must have betrayed my incredulity because this was followed closely by, "You make a lot of funny expressions."
And really, what I wanted to say was, "How do you expect me to respond to that?" or DUDE, the COMPLETE LAPSE in judgment I'm currently suffering in giving you my number will have resolved itself in two weeks and I will likely be COMPLETELY HORRIFIED at my own idiocy and pretend we never met.
Instead, I said, "I suppose I do."
This neutral statement must have conveyed the intended message, however, because (miracle!) I got a call a couple days later.
So now, here I am, dating two totally inappropriate people, no idea what I'm doing, not sure why I'm doing this, and if you have any ideas, I'm all ears.
For right now, the only judgment I'm going to exercise is the decision not to take public transport again. Makes me think too much.
Posted by jen at April 16, 2008 10:27 PM
Comments
Perhaps you dating two inappropriate people will lead you to two appropriate people!
Posted by: Michelle at April 16, 2008 11:53 PM
isn't that obvious? a boy toy and a mind toy ....
Posted by: The Austrian at April 17, 2008 01:40 AM
I agree with Michelle - date the inappropriate people! They're probably moderately fun, or at least great blog fodder.
IMHO you'll only meet someone great and right when you're not looking - and even then he won't initially seem like the right person.
Boys, they're confusing like that.
Posted by: Laura at April 17, 2008 02:10 AM
I'm all for dating inappropriate people. It makes for good stories and it's a learning experience, totally.
However, I misread the first paragraph and ended up accidentally thinking that you gave your phone number to the guy who touched your leg and said you played high school sports and honestly, in that moment, I DID think maybe you'd lost your mind. But EVEN THEN, I'd have said go out with him, provided you meet him in a public place, because what the hell? It's an experience.
Posted by: jonniker at April 17, 2008 06:15 AM
A desert yurt? Sounds... interesting.
Posted by: -R- at April 17, 2008 07:49 AM
Don't ask me. You know I'm all about dating the inappropriate types. It makes life much more interesting.
Posted by: Dagny at April 17, 2008 09:32 AM
Wow! Remember when I said you should date an older guy? I was feeling very smug for the split second before I read about the yurt. No hippies, Jen, please! (Though I agree that playing the field a bit is a good idea.)
More details about both, please! Inquiring minds are getting anxious...
Posted by: Ursula at April 17, 2008 12:48 PM
Hee. I love your posts. So sorry on the public transportation. I won't lie, if I had better transportation to work, boogers or no, I would pack up some Purell and get on the train. I hate the driving.
I think the inappropriate dating is fine. You know what it is and it can't hurt to have a little fun.
One last note: Beware of PepBoys. Ugh to them.
Posted by: Christine at April 17, 2008 01:38 PM
I could not stop laughing out loud reading this. All I can say is, I have stopped taking the bus as well, except the drunk dude ON ROLLERBLADES who harassed me the last time I rode it did not impart any life lesson beyond STOP TAKING BUS.
Also, going out with you is the FUNNEST.
Posted by: Neeta at April 17, 2008 08:30 PM
you are the cutest. :) totally cracking me up. more, more, tell me more. :)
Posted by: carolyn at April 18, 2008 12:35 PM
He said "high school sports?" People are so weird.
Wow, this is like a Harlequin romance. The younger dude, the older dude. Which. Will. She. Choose?
Posted by: Librarian Girl at April 18, 2008 05:49 PM