Mansplaining 101 - Part 1

As we all know, dating is hard. Dating in a Pandemic is harder. I spoke a little about this guy in a previous story, so, let me refresh your memory.

This is the dude where we had a date at Water Tower Mall. We both had masks on and walked around. It was December and no indoor restaurants were open in Chicago, so, we tried to be creative with seeing each other yet following the rules.

We shopped for cologne for him. Hard to smell with a mask on but we did the best we could. He liked one cologne, I liked the other, he bought both.

I told him in a couple of weeks I was going to be on the road for almost 3 months. I was getting out of Chicago for a warmer destination due to the Pandemic. He was surprised I would be taking a road trip solo but said he wanted to visit. I didn’t really encourage the visit because even though I had a 2-bedroom, he wasn’t staying with me. And, I was going to an Island that was 3 miles long, so they had beach cottages (which is what I rented) or Motels. Nothing terribly fancy.

I departed Chicago and he kept checking in with me. It was sweet at first, but then I found his texts became rather needy. I tried to chalk it up to the Pandemic, but I don’t do well with needy. For instance, he would send me pictures of himself all dressed up and ask if I was attracted to him? Or, he would send me pictures of him in a dressing room at a store and ask me how good he looked in his new shirts? The thirst was real.

While I was away, he also had an excursion and escaped to Florida for a couple of weeks. Every day he was on his trip he would send me a picture of him in his swimsuit. Every. Single. Day.

This is where it gets interesting. He ended up going to a big College football game in Florida. He kept sending me pictures from the game. I would notice him with a bunch of people, and no one had masks on. And, he was in large crowds. This is all way before the vaccine was even a possibility.

He kept mentioning that he wanted to visit, and I would tell him that I had friends coming and wasn’t sure which weekend I would be available. I mostly didn’t want to see him now because I was sure he wasn’t being careful enough with social distancing.

He then sent me a picture of him at the golf course. He was REALLY tan, and his teeth were REALLY white. I didn’t remember this when we met in person, but, then again, we both had masks on. I couldn’t decide if he used a filter on this picture, or, if he had some sort of veneers, but something was definitely strange. He reminded me of Ross on Friends with the bright teeth. Yet another Pandemic mask pitfall.

Now it is February and he went dark. I did not hear from him at all. I was a bit relieved though because I was still on the road and was going to be through mid-March.

He had told me he couldn’t wait to see me again so when I got home from my trip, I sent him a note. I told him I understood if he moved on but was back in Chicago. For some reason, I wanted to see this through. He said he was sorry he hadn’t been in touch. He (you guessed it) had COVID and was very sick for a while. So, that is why he didn’t reach out.

He said he would love to take me out and to let him know what day worked for me. I told him I had some minor surgery so it would be better in a week. He said, since you had surgery, let me bring you dinner to your house. I thought that was sweet. We planned the date for a Tuesday night.

Tuesday morning, I still hadn’t heard from him to confirm (a pet peeve). So, I reached out to see if we were still on. He said we were, but he couldn’t make it until 7pm. I started to get nervous that I invited this guy over to my home. So, I said, let’s just do drinks instead of dinner (to shorten the time). He was fine with it.

I asked him what he drinks. He said vodka and water. I said great, I have both of those at home. He then went on to say, I also need a splash of cranberry and some lime. I did not have those at home.

I started to get irritated thinking he knows I had surgery and he is OK with me going out shopping for his mixers? Why didn’t he just say he would bring over a bottle of wine? I could feel my patience wearing thin, but, little did I know, this was just the beginning.

I told him I didn’t have all of that at home so why don’t we just meet at a bar that is on my block. He said great.

At 6:45pm (date is at 7pm), he texted me and said he would be late and wouldn’t be able to make it to the bar until 7:20pm. I said thanks for letting me know and would see him at that time.

It is 7:18pm and I am in the elevator heading to the bar. He texted me and said someone put another call in his calendar for that night. At this point, I had had it.

I told him it wasn’t meant to be and that I was not interested in meeting out. I was so annoyed that I had put on jeans, makeup, etc etc. This was all a big deal in the Pandemic. LOL

He said he didn’t care for my comment that it wasn’t meant to be and that I don’t understand what it is like to be in a business effected by COVID. (for the record, I am in a business decimated by COVID).

He is in the meat packing business and he said they have had problems at the plants for the past week with different outbreaks. I told him, I understand problems with COVID, I am a smart girl but not a mind reader. I reiterated I would have just appreciated him letting me know sooner than 7:18pm that it was a tough week at work. We could have rescheduled.

He continued to Mansplain me a bit about the Corporate world and it was like he poked a sleeping bear. We definitely did not see eye to eye on all of this and honestly, I was fine with it. He finished his calls at 9pm and thought I would meet him out at that time. On a Tuesday. Bless his heart.

About two days later, he reached out and apologized. He said he was stressed with work and would I give him another chance? He said he waited so long to see me again and he wanted to make it up to me.

Want to know what happened on the date? Stick around for next week’s post! It is a good one.