First-date Fiasco

I haven't written in a few days, so I thought I'd dip into the deep recesses of my memory for a salacious dating story...


As someone who doesn't date much, I guess I just don't know much about first date protocol. However, I do know a little bit about common courtesy. If I am going to go on a date with someone, it's usually because I think they are nice. Possibly respectful. Probably NOT going to berate me for everything from my political beliefs to my favorite sports team. But every once in a while my judgement is not on point and I might end up on a date with someone who doesn't live up to these very simple expectations.


Let's flash back to the fall, shall we? I met this guy, we'll call him Harry, when I went out with my friend and her work colleagues. After stalking me relentlessly for a week I decided I would meet Harry one Thursday afternoon for drinks and possibly dinner. The only problem was the Yankees were playing in Game 1 of the series that night, and I obviously needed to watch. I email Harry to let him know and he responds with "I'm a Mets fan". Um, so? I fully realized that people in New York were still bitter about the Mets getting knocked out before the play-offs, BUT CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? Always optimistic, I let him know that I didn't mind him being a Mets fan as long as it didn't ruin my night. So he suggests we meet at some place with a nice rooftop bar. It was unseasonably warm that day, so I was sweating by the time I got there. Nothing puts a girl in a worse mood than humidity. My hair was destroyed. Anyways, the date starts off well. A lot of "get to know each other" conversation, and I'm pleasantly surprised at his maturity... until 7:05 pm. As soon as the game started I saw a side of Harry that no girl should see on a first, or even a TWELFTH date. He immediately let me know that because I'm a female I obviously know nothing about baseball. That may be true about a lot of sports. I don't pretend to know anything about rugby, or golf, and my football knowlege is definitely not where it should be, but baseball I know. I have been to baseball stadiums all over this country and was not about to let this guy tell me I didn't know anything about baseball.

Playfully, I egged him on about the fact that my team was in the play-offs and I would really enjoy watching the game without his commentary. He started asking me ridiculous questions to prove that my baseball knowledge was sub-par.

"What happens when the ball bounces over the wall?"

"What happens when the ball hits the foul pole?"

"Who just hit that ball?"

That was where I had to draw the line. Even if I didn't know who hit that ball (which I did), it would have popped up on the screen in 30 seconds. Now he was just being rude. Our date came to a close shortly after, and I was hoping to never see his face again. Unfortunately we both had to catch the same train. As if the verbal lashing over drinks wasn't bad enough, he decided to ask me about my political views in the train station. I'll spare you this conversation, but I just need to mention that nobody should ever get into a debate about abortion on their first date. But what do I know?

A week later, after the Yanks were sadly knocked out of the series, I got an email from Harry gloating about our loss. When I reminded him that his team got knocked out of the series before mine did he felt the necessity to tell me "You wouldn't understand because you're a girl". That was interesting. I promptly told him my opinion on this matter and he told me "Call me when you get over it". I hope he's not still waiting for that phone call.