Worst Date Ever

Linda: I know it’s not even my turn to blog, but all these questions from reviewers like Dating @About.com are reminding me about some of the best-forgotten dates I’ve had personally or that my girlfriends shared. I think my worst was the 20 minute date. I was fixed up by a really nice couple whom I’ve known for years and the guy is their best friend. He’d been divorced for several years, and then had a live-in relationship which had recently ended. We talked on the phone several times and scheduled a date weeks in advance mostly because I was busy helping my daughter pack her parka and gear for Alaska.
On the the day of the date, I got a voice message which said, “ I guess you probably forgot that we had scheduled a date. That’s okay.”
I called him back and to let him know that I’d been at an all-day conference and that I was looking forward to the date. He told me to choose the place and time which I did.
I arrived on time and checked the restaurant. He wasn’t there. I had never seen him, but had a sense of what he’d look like from my friend Renee. I window-shopped and checked back again and again for 10 minutes. He finally arrived, introduced himself and we sat at the bar at the moderately priced Upper West Side fish place I had chosen assuming that if the drinks part went well, we’d have dinner. We talked –awkwardly- mostly about his son’s grades and sports teams-for about 10 minutes and then he disappeared into the bathroom. When he came back, we talked only slightly more easily--again about his son’s IQ and the like. Out of nowhere, he asked if I’d been to France. Yes. Speak French? Yes. Though neither of us had finished our glasses of wine, he downed his, and asked for the check. Then he looked at his watch and said he needed to go see some friends who were leaving for France the next day. Outside the restaurant he shook my hand with the very same handshake you get after a job interview when you know you didn’t get the job.
The only good part was that he totally cured me of dating for several months which gave me time to learn to enjoy my own company. I saw him years later at Renee’s for a shiva call and by then I had no idea who he was.