Dating Drama: Something Was Missing

People often ask me, “What’s the strangest date you’ve been on?” It’s hard to say because there are a plethora of reasons a date can go wrong. There’s the obvious no chemistry, to the obscure we didn’t connect, to the obscene his leather chaps were ass-less.

So is the follow the strangest date ever? Probably not, but something was definitely missing, and it took me far, far too long to put my finger on it…

We met online. He was tall, 6’5″, a blond surfer-type who had traveled widely and had a great smile. I was cautiously optimistic, but reserved judgement because a great smile can mean many things, and his emails had lacked overt humor. He’d suggested that we meet at a bar called Heart. Charming, I thought.

I met him outside, a bit after dark. I liked his look as he ordered a drink. We weren’t totally hitting it off, but neither were there awkward moments of silence. At some point, he asked about my rock climbing adventures (something I’d called out in my online dating profile) and whether I went often. Innocuous enough, right? I blathered on about being spectacularly awkward on the wall, but loving the experience, and then asked the fated, “So, do you climb, too?”

It was at this point that he casually moved both hands onto the table in front of me and said, “Actually no. I don’t know if you noticed, but I only have 3 fingers on my left hand.”

I hadn’t noticed. What to do? Be considerate and ask if they were lost somehow or perhaps had simply never been? Or…what?

I stammered out something like, “Hmmmm….that’s no excuse. There are guys who climb with only one arm, let alone missing a few key digits!”

Thank god he laughed.

 

 Grab a bowl of life from the top shelf, add one awkward adolescent, two parts sporty spice, a dollop of sass, and finish off with sprinkle of sexy; bake, and you’ve just made a perfect batch of the lovely, talented and oh-so-delicious Hannah Russin.