Frying Pan Guy

A couple of posts ago, I brought up frying pan guy. I've had a few people ask me about that story so I thought I would share. Even though it has been a couple of years, I think this story embodies my dating life pretty well! It also shows that I am too damn nice and I get taken advantage because of that! I also should tell you, that in order to get the full effect of the story, I need to tell you how I met this guy. For a while I did the online dating thing. I figured, I don't go out to bars and who wants to date people you meet at bars, so I signed up. I had some crazy weird people come into my life from online dating. Then again, I also dated a couple of decent guys and I am still friends with them. They just weren't right for me.

At one point I started talking to two men at the same time. Both very different, but I seemed to be getting along with them ok. Then it came time to go out with them. One ended up telling me he was falling in love with me on the first date, which scared me half to death. But, that's another story! The other guy and I made arrangements to go to dinner. We then decided to go to a cubs spring training game and then dinner instead. That actually worked better for me because of my kids so I agreed.

I should tell you, this guy had epilepsy so he didn't drive and he was an architect that had just been laid off. Both of these things should have been red flags to me, but you know, there are a lot of good people that are losing their jobs right now and a person can't help having a disease, so I ignored that nagging feeling and gave him a chance. He told me he was going to buy the tickets for the game online and where we were going to go for dinner....then he says, "But you are going to have to drive." Hmmmmm...okay. So, I drop my kids off at my mom's house in Mesa, then I drive all the way up to Paradise Valley to his house, which incidentally was only about 4 blocks away from the other guy's house!

This guy described himself as being tall and athletic. A very fit 42 year old. His picture wasn't too bad, but when that guy walked out of his door I was floored. He wasn't athletic, he was scrawny! He also looked like he was about 55 years old! He was wearing a wife beater and shorts and I should have just driven off right then, but again, I'm just too nice! I drive all the way back to Mesa and it turns out the cubs ball field is about 2 minutes away from my mom's house...ugh. We are in traffic waiting and next thing I know, he's yelling out the window at a scalper for tickets! He didn't even buy the tickets like he said he was going to!

I finally get parked and we get inside the game and he bought me a hot dog and a bottle of water for lunch. Ok, fine...I don't want to spoil my dinner. We got lawn seats, which actually turned out to be an entertaining place to sit. Behind us were some people from San Diego and they were hilarious! To the right of us were 2 young couples and down in front were a bunch of drunk college kids. The whole time this guy talked about how horrible the economy is, how terrible Democrats are, Obama sucks, yada yada yada. I like to talk about politics, but there is a time and a place for it and a baseball game is not one! Also, talk about something else once in a while! As the game wore on I kept moving closer to the foursome next to me and I started talking to the people behind us. All I could think was, I am at least gonna get a good dinner out of this loser.

I love to watch people. They fascinate me and I'm always trying to figure out what makes them tick. I sometimes catch myself staring even though I don't mean to. Anyway, I notice a commotion down in front with the drunk college kids and realize that one of them is passed out. His friends have taken a sharpy and written cubs across his forehead and he is a lobster!! I'm laughing hysterically and go take a picture of him. When I get back, the people next to me ask me to take their picture for them. I do and when I sit down I am practically sitting in their laps trying to get away from this guy! He then hands his cell phone to the girl and says, "Would you please return the favor?" She took one look at my face and went, "Ummmm...uh, ok?" I have never been very good at hiding what I'm thinking so I can't believe that this guy hasn't gotten it yet. She takes a quick picture, sits down and starts whispering to her friends. After their little huddle, they all smile at me and start chatting with me. I am so thankful they took pity on me! lol

After the cubs lost, we were sitting in traffic trying to get out of the parking lot and I asked him where we were going for dinner. He didn't even answer me! He just went on talking about who knows what. Finally when I'm out of the parking lot and driving down the road he says, "I spent more money than I planned on the tickets and then the hot dog, so we can't go to dinner. But, I can make hamburgers at my house." I'm sitting there thinking to myself, "I wonder if I should kick him out of my car now, or wait until I'm on the freeway?" That's not what came out of my mouth though. "Ok." What?? Did I just say that?! Great. So off I go, all the way back up to Paradise Valley. We are almost to his house and he says, "Can you take me to the grocery store? It's right around the corner. I don't have any hamburger or buns." Oh sure, why not. I will take you grocery shopping. At this point what difference does it make? After he buys some groceries, we go back to his house and his roommate is there and is just moving in. He is talking about how he has almost all of his stuff moved in, he just has 1 more load to go get. My date says, "How long are you gonna be? I'm gonna fix dinner, but I don't have a pan to cook it in." Are you freakin' kidding me???? Oh, that was the last straw for me. I went, "Oh, look at the time.", grabbed my purse and literally was running out the door to my car. He was right on my heels telling me he had a great time and how he would love to go out again!! OMG!! I didn't say a word, I just jumped in my car, locked the doors and got out of there as fast as I could. He texted me 3 times on my way home. The next morning I got up first thing and sent him an email. I told him to never contact me again and then gave him some much needed advice...like find your own damn way to the date and do your grocery shopping before hand!