Dave is a 33-year-old corporate trainer who lives in the Junction. Although he grew up skateboarding and listening to hip-hop, he has recently started working at a large firm. “I’ve always been a closet geek,” he says, “but I’ve kept up a bit of street style.” For fun, Dave plays Ping-Pong and spins records.
I met Ginger at a party for the Reel Asian Film Festival. I was drinking, she was volunteering. Lately, I’ve become tired of just standing by waiting for something to happen, so that night I decided I would talk to the girl I thought was the most attractive in the place. Ginger glowed. She was beautiful and seemed intriguing and classy. I chatted her up, and we started talking about cooking and the restaurants we both wanted to try. We also chatted about the traditional values of our parents, who are first-generation immigrants to Canada, and about growing up as the only visible minorities in small towns. We really hit it off and had a ton in common. I asked her out for sushi.
We went out on a rainy night. I picked her up at her condo and we slipped right back into our conversation. It was pretty casual and easy going, but I had the feeling that we were both a bit wary. For my part, I was sure that it was too good to be true because talking to Ginger was so easy and natural. I know my sense of humour can be a bit weird and sometimes puts girls off, but she seemed to like it.
The dinner itself wasn’t too good. We had to wait 30 minutes for a table and the service was poor, but Ginger was really patient. After dinner, we went to a bar on Queen West to have a drink and meet her friends. They never showed and I still don’t know whether they just bailed or she set it up that way. We kept talking about our work and life aspirations.
Soon, the conversation got more flirtatious and we had a discrete kiss when we thought no one was looking. At 2 a.m. the bar turned into an after-hours. Luckily, the bartender took a shine to us and bought us shots. We were all smoking in the bar, and hanging out with some guys who were way more gangster than me. Let’s just say we broke a few municipal, federal and dating laws that evening and, even though it was all new to her, Ginger was game. We stayed in the bar and partied until 4:30 in the morning.
We ended the night—or the morning—at her place. It was unbelievable. Since then, we have slowed down and gotten to know each other. It’s a few months later and I’m at her place right now.
Dave rates his date (out of 10): 9
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