The Salute

Tonight was my first date in over a month. This has been the longest span I've gone without a date in over a year... possibly longer. And I'm not sure how I feel about the date in general. He was nice, yes. Cute, in my type of way. Intelligent, but not arrogant about it. He's a tallish, lanky, bespectacled computer programmer (I do seem to have a type - no?) from the midwest. I think on paper it went well and we had 3 hours of really good conversation - but there may not be the level of attraction that is necessary to advance this any further. Here's how it all played out...

We met up at a bar that was a few blocks from my apartment, and I felt really well prepared for this date. We had many lengthy email exchanges prior to the date, which sometimes sets the stage for disaster. I had done my research on him (of course!) prior to the date, and found through myspace that we actually have a mutual friend. I decided not to reveal my stalker tendencies to him before we met though. We had arranged to meet at the bar around 7:45ish, and I wanted to be there early, so leaving my apartment at 7:38 allowed me this. I walk in and I see a guy sitting at the bar. He had brown hair, glasses, and even though he didn't really look like the guy I was supposed to be meeting, some people don't photograph consistently. So I kind of smiled at the guy who was sitting at the bar, ordered my drink, and waited to see if the guy at the bar would come over and introduce himself. Ahh, he did not. And when he spoke to the bartender I heard he had a very thick European accent, definitely not the midwestern boy I was supposed to be meeting. No sooner do I realize this does my real date show up, looking just like his pictures, well as much as one does look like their photographs online.

We shook hands, and sat at the bar. It wasn't an awkward initial "do I go for the hug/handshake?" question like I had on my first date with T, this guy is just a handshake type guy. So we talked for hours about a lot of different things... my job, the sad state of education in the New York City public schools, books, hometowns, Brooklyn. Really, it was good, natural conversation. Not really first date kind of conversation, but kind of complete strangers who are trying hard not to appear to be strangers conversation... that's the best description I can find.

So around 10:30, he needs to go home, and has a decently long train ride ahead of him (which involves 2 trains, one of them being the G... if you know anything about the G, an off hour train ride can be an unpleasant experience). So, we call it a night, and then my question of how is this going to end starts creeping into my mind... Hug? Handshake? Well.. he had it all figured out. He raised two fingers to his head, and saluted... oh yes. Saluted me goodnight. Wow. I don't know how that plays out in my mind, but I think that's the only thing that would really deter me from seeing this person again. Not that I'm under the impression AT ALL that a salute implies that this guy has any interest in seeing me again. When my roommate asked me when I got home how it went, my best reply was... well, I wouldn't be OPPOSED to seeing him again, but I wouldn't be heartbroken if I didn't.