a funny thing happened on the way into work...

i was heading into work today, a bit late (as usual -- when is that adult able-to-get-up-early gene going to kick in for me? maybe not until i have a kid and i have no other choice!) and i needed to stop for gas. after filling up, i was pulling out of the station and this man was looking at me. i looked at him, and put my hand up to wave (i'm friendly by nature). then it occurred to me -- early 40's, prius, wait, i've met this guy! so i stop and back up and put my window down. "hi," i say. "hi, how are you?" he says. we kind of look at each other for a minute. "oh yeah, you live in this neighborhood, i forgot," i say. he says, "are you on your way to work?" i nod. then, remembering what my friend e said in his comment to my last post, sometimes you just have to go for it. so i say "we should meet for coffee sometime. i really enjoyed talking with you." he says, "yeah, that would be great. i think i still have your number. but just in case why don't you give it to me again?" he takes out the cell phone, and from one car to the other i recite my digits. he reads them back to me. "yup, you got it." "great," he says. "well, have a wonderful day," i say, "bye!" and i head off to work.

the backstory here is that about 8 months ago, on the suggestion of a dear co-worker and my amazing massage therapist, i decide to join this thing...let's call it "it's just a midday meal" for fear of getting sued. (i actually refer to it as "it's just a mortgage payment" to my friends.) they promise "busy professional successful singles who want to date but just don't have time!" in my experience, save a few, it's been more like "guys who really have trouble meeting women but are willing to plunk down some cash to have a few dates!" i think i've had 8 or 9 or my 15 promised dates, and maybe one or two i've wanted to see again. well, mr. gas station today was the one i wanted to see again the most. (see rule #3 for more on this.) we had pretty much arranged the second date at the end of our first date but i never heard from him and never got his contact information. the IJAMM people never heard back from him either, which is weird, because we are expected to call in with our "feedback" after every date so they can (purportedly) gain a clearer understanding of who and what you are looking for.

so who knows if i will hear from him this time, and if i don't, i guess it's just as well. but we don't get too many second chances, and as my "matchmaker" said when i called her today to share this funny story, "who knows, things seem to happen for a reason!" the ultimate cliche, of course, but cliches do come from somewhere...

again, as always, stay tuned...

~md