Second time isn't always less awkward...

My first met-you-on-the-internet date was fine. It certainly wasn't good. The guy was the Real Life Version of Comic Book Guy from The Simpson. Voice and all. But I rallied through it enough to be willing to try it again - with someone else from the internet.

Internet Guy #2. He was a straight-up geek from the get-go. He made no excuses or denials of that fact. And I was fully aware. I thought, "Well... maybe I'm really in to RenFairs and I just never knew it." So we chatted for a few weeks and I decided now-or-never. We set a date. Thing is, I was petrified. I begged a friend of mine to come along and, because she's a true friend, she agreed. We met at on the UChicago campus (where he was a grad student). The plan for the evening was that he was going to teach me how to play Go. (A game I'm fascinated with, and have always wanted to learn, but can't ever quite get the hang of.) We show up. He begins his lessons. The inital awkwardness doesn't seem to be fading quite as quickly as I think it should. I make a silly move, he goes in to pat me on the shoulder in a teasing way but hesitates on his way in and then quickly hits me and backs off like my shoulder was a hot pan. I think, ooooookay. He's not into me. That's fine. We'll just wrap this up. We eventually do, we're walking toward the door... my friend and I say our thanks for his hospitatly and lessons and such and we turn to leave and he opens his arms to me. I think, okay fine - a hug is an okay thing. I go in for the hug and he goes in for a kiss.

Whooooooooa there.

I sort of back up a little, but by this point his already got his arms around me so I can't go very far. He gets the idea, though. I give him a quick pat on the back and say, "Thanks again!" And I bolt.

After about 120 seconds of utter silence while walking back to the car, my friend and I burst out laughing. She reassured me that there were no social cues that should have led up to him thinking a good night kiss was okay - plus, my friend was standing right there saying her goodbyes, too! She didn't need to witness a first-date make-out.

Poor guy is too smart for his own good.

All that and I still don't know how to play Go.

~ Dinah