Guess what’s back, back again? One Hit Blunders, Part Three! And in honor of it being the third in this series, today, you get three stories instead of two.
Parth, or as I call him, The Unsocial Graduate, was another guy that I matched with on Hinge or Bumble, I can’t remember, around January of 2019 when things were starting to fizzle with Al (before I knew he was both a cheater and a heartless human). He was also in grad school at Northeastern, so we were able to talk about our experiences from our first semester, and I was giving him some tips on Boston since he was still fairly new to the area.
We had plans to go out, but then, a couple of days before the weekend we had plans, my sister-in-law went into labor with my youngest niece late at night so I ended up flying home first thing Friday morning so I could meet her. Parth was very understanding, but then he asked me for photos of my niece and I had to change the subject because it is absolutely not my place to share photos of my nieces when I’m not their parent – especially not to someone I haven’t even met yet. I told him I’d show him a picture when we met up (I didn’t). But, we talked throughout the weekend and decided to go out the following week when I got back.
We went to The Cheesecake Factory (who doesn’t love that bread, right?) and almost immediately, I knew I was in for an awkward meal. He literally did not know how to carry a conversation — at ALL. He’d ask me a question, I’d answer, and then he’d just stare at me. Meanwhile I’m just eating my cheeseburger all self-consciously (at least he didn’t make me share my fries) and trying to think of what to say next. If I’m at a loss for words, you know it’s bad.
We had virtually nothing in common, the conversation did not flow, and it was just weird all around. Plus, he seemed to seriously lack common social skills especially in regards to how to conduct oneself in a restaurant. But hey, I got a free meal out of it (even though I ended up sneaking and slipping some extra cash on the table when I saw he left virtually no tip – which is one of my biggest pet peeves/dating deal-breakers). I can’t remember if we both got cheesecake to go, or if I just walked like I was heading to the T station in the Prudential and then turned around and got it myself, but either way, I definitely know I got cheesecake to eat when I got home as a reward for surviving the date.
But if you’ve been reading my blog up to this point, you know that since it’s me, it can’t end there, can it? Nope. Parth texted me after and asked me out for a second date, and I gave him my classic ‘No, but thanks,’ line of, “You seem like a great guy, but I just didn’t feel the spark I’m looking for. Best of luck!” I could tell he was pissed about it, but he brushed it off for the moment.
Then, barely a week later I get another text from him saying that he wants to go out on another date and “try again” so that he can see how he feels. I told him that’s not how it works, and again, no, I was not interested. He tried AGAIN, but kept just talking about himself and what he wanted to figure out. At that point, I threw the niceties out the window and told him straight up, “You are not respecting my opinion and feelings. I said no, I’m not interested, you need to listen to me because it’s not just about you and what YOU want.” That got him off of my back, so after that, I just spent the rest of my time in grad school making sure to avoid any areas that I might run into The Unsocial Graduate.
Michael, or as I like to call him, The Too-Friendly Ghost, was another of my “Almost done with Al so I’m on Hinge” matches, and he seemed like the nicest guy in the world. He was so, so sweet. Almost too sweet, really. I don’t even know how long we talked before he finally asked me out, but I know it was a very long time and much longer than I’m used to waiting.
But, when I told him I had to go away for the weekend for an emergency, he could not have been more understanding and sympathetic. I ended up telling him afterwards what had happened (this was when my grandma passed away) and he was so nice about it and told me to take as much time as I needed before I was ready to go on a date or anything.
Finally, we scheduled a date and he was so nervous about picking a good place. We both like Italian food, so we decided to meet in the North End and pick a place when we got there. Then he said he’d feel better if I just picked a place so he knew I liked where we went, so I did. We met there and stood and looked at the menu on the window for 10 minutes with me convincing him that yes, this was totally fine, I was happy eating anywhere, I promised!
We did have a few things in common, and the conversation went at least a bit better than it had with Parth and some of the other guys I’ve experienced in the past. But at the same time, I felt like he was a bit too agreeable and just going along with whatever I said because he wanted to make sure I was happy. Which, again, is sweet, but also not really what I’m looking for. I definitely need someone who isn’t afraid to challenge me.
Michael seemed very close with his family, though, which is very important to me, and I liked that he remembered the things I’d told him over text and asked me interesting questions about myself. He also immediately offered to pay. Overall, I had a pretty decent time and chalked up his need to please me to nerves or anxiety, so as we said goodbye I figured that maybe I’d give him one more chance.
Except, I never heard from him again. He straight up ghosted me after that. I’m assuming he wasn’t feeling it or knew that I wasn’t 100% on board, or he was intimidated, or something, and did not know how to handle it without abandoning the “way too nice” impression that I had of him, so instead, I just never heard from him again. After that, I realized that Michael could seriously give Casper a run for his money on which of them is the friendliest ghost.
This is actually one of my favorite stories to share. I matched with this guy on Hinge, he was French (I’m not sure why, but French guys LOVE me – I’m not complaining) so I’ll call him Marius because I’m in a Les Mis mood right now. He seemed very successful – good job, dressed nicely, well-spoken, and I was very into that.
We talked a lot, and he was saying to me that he was hoping to find someone that he could more or less spoil – buy nice clothes, take to France for vacations and stay in his nice place there, etc. No, this was not a sugar baby situation, because he was just a little bit older than me and he wanted to actually date, too, but I’m not going to be upset about a guy who wants to treat me like a princess (especially not a French one) so I supported this dream of his.
Finally, we started to make plans to meet. First, we thought about grabbing dinner somewhere on the water, but then, he said that he wanted to do something even more special – he wanted to take me out that weekend on his boat. He said he’d bring a bottle of wine, we’d go whale watching, cruise around, and grab dinner when we got back.
I remember he texted me this on my way to work, and all I was thinking was, “No fucking way am I getting on a boat with someone that I haven’t even met yet!” So when I got to work, I told my coworkers (who were all male, by the way) that this guy I’d been talking to but hadn’t met yet wanted to take me out on his boat that weekend for our first date. They thought this was great! It sounded fun, cool, romantic, and they were telling me to have fun. But I had to explain to them that, no, this was NOT a good idea because once I was out in the middle of the water with a stranger, I had no clue what was going to happen. This sounded like a Lifetime movie where I was going to be the young girl who gets murdered by some crazy con man and then sends their mother into some crazy quest for vengeance.
This is when one of my coworkers asked me if I watched the show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” I said no, I hadn’t. He sent me the link to a scene from the show called “the implication.” Here’s the link if you haven’t seen it yourself, come back when you’re done watching.
Back? So, now you know why I call him “The Implication.” I texted him that a boat cruise sounded cool, but it wasn’t something I wanted to do before we met, he said okay, and then he went back to France for a trip and we never really spoke again. And that was the end of him.
So that, my friends, brings us to the end of Part Three of my One Hit Blunders. But don’t worry – there’s more to come! In the meantime, share your worst first date stories with me in the comments below – I want to read them!
See you next week for another story!