I recently discovered there is a slightly different mechanism of expressing disinterest in a man, one I find more heinous than the disappearance I described previously. Warning: there is considerable bitterness here on my part. This one has been around for probably a hundred years, but is still practiced. I had thought it reserved for the obviously wealthy and married men fooling around on their wives. I was wrong. In this dating scenario you meet a woman you like that you think likes you. You think you have a lot in common with her and you ask her to dinner. Since you are trying to impress her, you take her to a nice place (read: expensive). The dinner goes downhill from the moment you get to into the car to go to the restaurant. The restaurant is either not to her liking, in spite of the fact that you asked her for her preference, and she offers no alternatives. Clearly, she made you guess and you either guessed wrong, or she is setting things up for failure. She orders the most expensive things on the menu, from drinks to desserts, from the moment you get there, and just to make sure she establishes herself as queen bitch, she complains about her meal and sends it back...twice!
The conversation during the entire evening is all about her, more her and her needs, then turns to lifestyle needs which rival anything portrayed on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Now, I have already figured out I need to get away from this woman, quickly. The frat boy in me wants to excuse myself, pay the check, tell the hostess to call her a cab when she is done, and flee like the wind, but the gentleman in me, and I am always a gentleman, at least publicly, stays, finishes dinner and takes her home. Like a gentleman should, I start to get out of the car to open her car door, but I am stopped when she says, "I don't think we have enough in common to go forward." She gets out and flees herself. I go home cursing her the whole trip. Just to make sure I got the message, she texts me to tell me that we have nothing in common. The kicker is, she gets pissed and goes on a demeaning and condescending text rant when I reply simply, "I agree." Again, how dare I...LOL
Ladies, this is what you pay a certain price for in terms of your interactions with men. We have these experiences and we learn from them. Like me, some of us, at least for a while, over-generalize from them and women that are as appalled by this behavior as I, end up being treated as if they would do this. I know that most would not, but, as is said, once burned, twice shy.
I am still partially burned from the experience, and my writing about it is my form of catharsis. I am just worried that it taints my worldview of women and dating. The truth be told, I am actually considering getting a tattoo that will be a warning to women I am with. The tattoo, placed on my chest, right over my heart, will be of a stylized heart wrapped in barbed wire. I think it can work two ways, first as a warning to me to be much more careful before giving my heart to another. The second is as a warning to a potential partner, it will be tough to get to my heart, but once inside, you are protected. We shall see....
Love it!
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