Safety Goggles and Other Dating Hazards

Remember when I swore off dating? I knew it wouldn't last. It should have.

Last Friday, I went out with a guy I'd met online. We'd met once before for coffee and a walk in the park and had a perfectly pleasant time, although no fireworks or immediate chemistry were evident. He did invite me out again, and offered to make reservations at a restaurant he liked. Since I couldn't remember the last time a male-type person took me to a restaurant that actually took reservations and since a friend was encouraging me to break my habit of only being attracted to bad-boy types, I went out.

I drove up to the close-in suburb he lives in and we went to the restaurant. It was a lovely dinner, nice conversation, and I was beginning to think that even without fireworks he might be nice to hang out with. Then we headed to his car.

We got in, he started the engine and began to pull away from the curb but then stopped and said, "Oh, my glasses." I thought nothing of the comment until I glanced at him and saw he was putting on "glasses" that looked suspiciously like "goggles" See: equipment for high school science lab. I just had time to think, "hmmm...." when he explained the following: When he switched from wearing glasses to wearing contacts, he had an experience while driving on the highway. He watched a piece of cardboard come over the median and hit his windshield. This apparently convinced him that if something big hit the windshield, it would shatter and blind him and therefore he needed to wear safty glasses whenever he drove. Silly me. I'd always assumed that car makers had, you know, taken things like this into account and installed such things as, oh, safety glass in cars. Guess I'm just a wild and crazy type of girl who takes chances with my vision.

It was at this point in the evening that my brain said, "ding! Thanks for playing. Buh-bye." I talked for a little while longer, made my excuses and then got in my car and hustled home. I mean really. What does a guy like this do when having sex? Surround the bed with pillows in case you fall off? Wear safety goggles in case...well, I'll just leave the rest unsaid.

Sigh.