Carrie is a 31-year-old midwife who lives in High Park. She describes herself as “an eclectic hipster” who is random, outgoing, and hard-working. “In my line of work, my schedule is unpredictable, and I don’t meet many single members of the opposite sex, so my dating life is quiet,” she says. Carrie is looking for a guy who is smart but uncomplicated, and all about having fun. She met Sam online.
I immediately liked that Sam didn’t play the online-messaging game for too long before suggesting we meet up. Our schedules made it hard to arrange something right away, so we took a hiatus from emailing. A few weeks later, when I had a day off, I suggested we meet, but Sam said he was already dating someone. I appreciated him being so straightforward with me, so when I heard from him a month later—it hadn’t worked out with the girl he was seeing—I thought I would give him a shot.
At my suggestion, we decided to check out Bellwoods Brewery. I was there on time, but Sam wasn’t; he showed up 45 minutes after I got there. He commented halfway through the date that it was a cool venue, but that he probably would have suggested meeting at Casey’s Bar and Grill if I hadn’t suggested something first. I didn’t know what to make of that. As the evening progressed, I could tell that he was becoming more interested in me than I was in him, which made it easier for me to just shoot the shit to pass the time.
I also realized that Sam was letting me talk so much because he had nothing exciting to contribute. He did pipe in occasionally to say that he didn’t read for pleasure, only when he “had” to, and that he didn’t eat vegetables—ever. Apparently Sam’s usual diet consisted of Kraft Dinner and Pizza Pizza. At one point, he referred to Macedonia as “a Greek island,” and said that he liked to travel, like me, but didn’t want to go to “bad places” like Africa, India, South America, or Mexico. I think it was around this point in the date that he became aware of how poorly it was going because he asked whether I was laughing at him or with him.
I felt badly, so I asked Sam about himself, and whether he had any “special skills,” so he could regain some confidence. He thought for a minute, then said that he was really good at finding fast-food restaurants, especially Pizza Pizzas. This comment was followed by five minutes of silence while he thought about something else to add.
When we left the restaurant, Sam lit a cigarette, and then asked me what I thought about smoking. I gave him my honest opinion—that it really bothered me—but that I wouldn’t tell someone else what to do. “So this isn’t a deal-breaker, then?” he replied. So many other things had been deal-breakers that evening that him smoking was far from the biggest problem. I had to suppress a laugh. Sam then attempted to kiss me while he was still smoking. When I recoiled, he said goodnight, and told me what a wonderful time he had.
Carrie rates her date (out of 10): 5
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