The Boy with a Girl's Name (As requested by Naples)

I once was asked on a coffee date by a man with a girl’s name.  If you are unaware of the coffee date, let me explain.  Girls are asked on coffee dates by guys who are intrigued but not ready to invest more than $2.  I have been on lots of coffee dates. Since I am always petrified that after the date the guy will say, “I can’t believe I wasted $2 for that,” I make it a point to arrive early and buy my own coffee.   I am not being negative, just realistic. If I was better at first dates, I wouldn’t have been on so many of them.

Anyway, on one torrentially rainy summer day, I drove 30 minutes to buy my own coffee and wait for my first date with the boy with a girl’s name. We shall call him Lindsey.  Lindsey arrived just as I was taking the last sips of my pre-purchased cappuccino. We began the typical date banter. “Nice to see you.” “Was the weather ok?” blah blah blah… all fairly standard and uninteresting UNTIL… “So Lindsey, how was your week?” 

Like I said, things were about to get interesting. You see, Lindsey had a terrible week. In fact, he had just quit his job, and decided to move to an actual city far away from coffee-shop-city where we were sitting. Coffee-shop-city had too many negative memories for Lindsey. He had moved to be closer to his EX-girlfriend, but now was haunted by her every where he went. Metaphorically, she had not actually died, only broken up with him.  There Lindsey sat… a broken man, but with a rekindled spirit. In his devastation, he had discovered the joys of counseling. It was his counselor who had recommended that he start dating. In fact, his counselor had told Lindsey that he, like most people, sought to date women of equal or more attractiveness than himself.  It was only a natural to categorize people, but it was important to move past those categories and attempt dating people of lesser beauty. It was at this moment I thought, “I can’t believe I wasted $2 for this…”