After a blind date with a 27 year old European finance guy last night, I’ve decided SWD needs to be resurrected.  On occasion, I get bored (okay, like every other week), and post an ad on c-list, asking if anyone, within acceptable age range and proximity, would like to grab drinks or dinner.  3/4 of the responses aren’t worth glancing at, but I know I can always expect something along the lines of “Hey!  2_ SWM, do finance, work in Midtown, live {somewhere between the Village and Gramercy}, etc etc”…
 
Exhibit A: “Hi, 
 
I just read your craigslist post and I think we should get in touch.
About me : 27, European, professional. I came to the US for graduate school five years ago. I have been living and working in Midtown since then.”
 
Exhibit B: “I’m a 30 yr old male in midtown manhattan - educated, attractive and successful.  5’10”, 175, athletic, tan, brown eyes, dimple & fit.  I trade high yield bonds for a major hedge fund in midtown.  I’m laidback, always fun, a bit sarcastic and very open minded. 
 
Write back when you can…hope to talk soon…”
 
 
This past time, I got several solid replies, and began emailing them back and forth.  I was planning on meeting up with one on Monday, but at last minute, he had to cancel.  Fair enough, so I ended up emailing option number 3… (my other option was packing for a business trip and unable to get together that night)
 
I suggested we meet outside, to avoid rooting around a possibly packed bar making it very obvious we were on a blind date.  Luckily, he was the only one outside, and unluckily, he physically wasn’t my type.  He was wearing loafers, somewhat baggy jeans, a brown zip up sweater, wasn’t much taller than me (and I’m definitely lacking in the height department), and had an overall dorkiness to him, which sometimes can be endearing…  We hug, head inside, and order a couple beers, then jump into the typical “story of our lives” that more often than not is always how a first date begins.  His English was good, but he had a thick Parisian accent, since that’s where he spent the first 22 years of his life.  I was following for the most part, until he spent 45 minutes basically explaining how he had been transferred for work about 5 times (yes, he went into detail about each move)… at this point, I started wondering if there was someone from my past I could text to have a drink with… someone a little more interesting.  I was sweet, polite, smiling, and looking engaged, but when the waitress came back and asked if we wanted a second, to which I declined, I feel like he should have picked up on that and said no too.  Yes, for me to turn down a second drink speaks volumes for how much I was enjoying myself… at any rate, it is taking him f-o-r-e-v-e-r to drink his beer… so long that when he went to the bathroom, I not only took a few gulps, but also flagged down the waitress and asked for the check.  It went on about 30 more minutes until he opened the bill and I offered to split, to which he nearly took me up on, but at last second had a change of heart and acted like he was being so gracious and chivalrous for putting my $6 beer on his tab.  Don’t get me wrong, I was appreciative, made sure I said thank you several times, but it just rubbed me the wrong way.  We walked outside and I pointed with way I had to head home, we exchanged an awkward hug- a one-arm hug on my part, then went our ways.  No intentions of calling, texting or emailing him again, though I think he was intuitive enough to realize I didn’t have a great time and probably won’t be reaching out to me either.  All in all, a fail, but another experience, at any rate.
 
One of the guys whom I’ve been emailing back and forth with, AND spoke to on the phone for an hour and 1/2, seems fairly promising… nice, cute, normal (as far as I know), but sadly on a 10-day business trip right now.  Maybe we’ll try dinner when he gets back.  The only drawback is that he’s 31, but he doesn’t look like it at all in his pictures.  Age isn’t that big of an issue to me anyways, unless they’re more than a decade older or have baggage (ex-wife, child, ya know…).  Alright, time to work now, and I’m really not feelin’ it today.