Signs.

In the olden days (what really are the olden days?) and mostly in folklore, people believed that omens were sent through objects, animals, and even insects. I'm not a superstitious person, but I think someone might be trying to send me a message... and it comes in the form of a cockroach.

In my 2+ years living in my apartment, I have seen exactly 2 cockroaches in this place. One was the night I had my first double header, and the second was tonight. And tonight I just so happened to have my FIRST double header of the summer. Now I know, it's the summer, I live in the city, and I probably should have done those dishes in the sink a few days ago... but what kind of sign is it that when ONLY on nights that I go out with more than one guy in one night, cockroaches appear in my apartment?

How these dates came about... well, today was an absolutely gorgeous day in the city. Breezy, in the 70s, low 80s, and MUCH too beautiful to be stuck indoors doing grad school work, which is exactly what I had planned. I decided I needed to go out, and what better way to go out than on a date?? So I posted a quick ad on craigslist, and the responses came pouring in (ok, maybe not pouring but there were about 30 or so in the first half an hour...) So, I chose three to respond to of the initial response, and of the three I responded to, 2 responded to my email. So, I had two dates in the works, but I was sure that one of them was going to bail on the actual meeting part. Not everyone is ok with meeting someone the same day you start talking to them. So, I kept it up with both.. and neither bailed. Suddenly I had two dates for drinks, very close to each other. The first guy was coming from Brooklyn, so I knew he'd get here first. The other was coming all the way from central jersey (where he works...) so, I figured with traffic, by the time he got here, I'd be finishing drinks with date #1, and ready for #2.

Date #1 took the train over from Williamsburg, and the G was running a bit slower than usual today (which is really bad, because the G sucks to begin with...), and I had promised him (as a way to get him to come to my neighborhood, to save me time between dates!) that if the G took more than 5 minutes to come, the first drink was on me. It clearly took a while, and I wanted to be true to my word... so I did indeed buy the drinks. Anyway, getting ahead of myself. We met up at the subway station, and walked half a block over to a trendy Peruvian restaurant for drinks. Oh, did I mention that he was cute? Really really cute. Not so much MY type of cute, but very boyishly good looking. We sat out in the back patio, and I had a mojito and he had a Peruvian beer. I felt really cool that I could suggest what kind of Peruvian beer was good, because he asked if I knew (and I do!) but the place didn't have any... bummer. We talked for a good hour or so, and I couldn't tell if he was interested or not. Regardless, my phone rang not too long into the date. My second date had somehow managed to come through Staten Island and Brooklyn during rush hour on the ONE day where there is no traffic. Sure enough, if I have to be somewhere in Brooklyn and I'm driving through Staten Island and Brooklyn, there will be an accident and loads of traffic, but no, when I WANT there to be traffic, to buy me a little time, there is none. I politely excused myself from my current date, and answered my phone to find that my second date was merely seconds away from parking the car and getting to where I was supposed to meet him. I told him I'd be right there, and then continued to talk and finish my drink with my first date.

I felt REALLY bad, for both of the guys at that point. Date #1 I was cutting really short because I told him that a friend had just called me unexpectedly and was in from out of town, and I felt like I should go see him. He was gracious enough (hell, I paid for his drink, why should he care?), but again, I don't think he's interested, and if anything maybe we'll hang out again as friends. Date #2 I felt badly for because he must have been waiting for me for a good 20 minutes. Yeah, that makes me later than I think is acceptable - and I have been known to be very late before.

I hug Date #1 goodbye, and point him in the direction of his train, and call Date #2 before I'm even across the street to assure him that I am in fact on my way. So, I show up for my second date, and he too is cute, but in a more non-conventional way. He's shorter than me for one (but he did tell me that prior to meeting him), and just smaller in stature - basically smaller than me, which usually makes me uncomfortable, but I wasn't. He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek as soon as I showed up, and didn't say a word about how long I had kept him waiting. We walked around my neighborhood to find a good bar, and ended up pretty close to where I was for date 1, but at a wine bar just down the block. We sat and had a glass of wine (and he didn't criticize my choice of wine!), and had about 2 hours of good conversation. Conversationally, he was very uninhibited, one of the first things he said to me when we sat down was that I was very pretty. I'm not used to receiving compliments like that on a first date, but I'll take it. The conversation was good and very easy, and I think we both felt very comfortable around each other. The conversation turned first-date inappropriate at some point when the topic of past partners came up, and because it was where the conversation was leading.... he asked me how many guys I'd been with - which is a topic I usually avoid because I'm prone to lie. Not because my number is high, I just never really kept track. I told him the truth... and I'm not sure why. I felt really comfortable with him - and I'm certain he felt the same. He's definitely not the type of guy I am typically attracted to, but none the less, I was attracted. He's older than I would like (32), shorter than I would like, smaller than I would like... but all that aside - I still liked him.

We parted ways after we finished our wine, and I gave him directions on how to get back to the tunnel (did I mention he lives in Jersey - something else I don't like!), and we separated with a hug and a quick kiss on the lips (but no more romantic than the initial kiss on the cheek). He called me before he even was out of Brooklyn... I thought at first he must be lost, but no, he was just waiting at the light, and wanted to tell me that he had a good time. He asked if I was home yet, but I had stopped at the diner to pick up a salad for dinner (drinking + dating + no food = NO GOOD). His immediate response was, "I wish you had told me you were hungry, I thought you had already eaten, I would have taken you to dinner!" At which point, I had to assure him that I wasn't in fact hungry on the date, but did need to eat dinner or else would feel rather ill tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I will hear from him again, in fact I'd be pretty surprised if I did not.

The cockroach may be a omen of things to come... but looking at my dating record AFTER the cockroach last summer, it seemed to help things along. Maybe it's not so bad after all.