"Take A Walk On The Wild Side"...Dating - Runaway Dates

Melodee Currier began writing poetry shortly after graduating from high school and wrote off and on for the next several years.  Her first glimpse that she had writing talent came during a business seminar when she was in my 20's.  They were asked to write on a specific topic regarding the workplace.  The leader chose Melodee's essay to read to the group and said it was the best they had ever seen.

Over the years, she had taken many writing classes, but didn't start to write seriously until she left corporate America in 2008.  She started writing paralegal articles and then branched out to a variety of personal essays on a wide variety of subjects. 

The world of writing is an exciting adventure for Melodee.  What will she write about today?

Runaway Dates

They say it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind.  When it came to dating, that was certainly my motto.  I had lots of chutzpah when I was 17 to 27 years old, which is evidenced by several of my dates. 

It all started while I was living at The Barbizon Hotel for Women in New York City.  Men weren't permitted anywhere in the hotel except the lobby. So when my dates would arrive to pick me up, they would call my room from the lobby.  If it was someone I hadn't dated before, I would ask a friend to answer my phone and tell him I was away from my room for a minute.  Then I would race to the mezzanine and carefully peek over the railing so I could see him, but he couldn't see me.  If I liked what I saw, I would race back to my room, grab my purse and meet him in the lobby.  If I changed my mind, I would go back to my room or leave the hotel through the coffee shop.  One time as I was coming back to the hotel through the coffee shop the date I stood up confronted me.  It still didn't stop me from doing it over and over again. 

One time I fixed up a friend and we had dates with two guys who were roommates. They wanted to impress us by making dinner.  We met them at their apartment, a four story walk up.  While we were sitting in the living room waiting for the guys, who were in the kitchen making our drinks, I turned to my friend and whispered, "Are you having a good time?"  She shook her head no.  I replied, "Then let's GO!"  and before you could say "Jack Robinson" we jumped out of our chairs and flew down four flights of stairs.  We raced down the street, laughing so hard, until we were certain we were out of their sight.

On another double date where I fixed a friend of mine up, about half way through the date while the four of us were walking down the street in New York City, I had a strong feeling that my friend would rather be with my date -- and I liked her date better too.  So I stopped right there and asked if it would be OK for us to switch dates.  They all agreed and we changed partners and continued on our date.   

Obsessed with finding "Mr. Right" I decided to try computer dating, which was the trend in New York City in the mid-1960's.  Although people didn't have computers then, there was "computer dating."  After sending in my five dollars, I impatiently waited for the names of three men to arrive in the mail.  The day I received them, I called each one and set up times to meet.  After meeting the first two, I wondered how they could have been matched with me.  Not wanting to waste any more time on dates that didn't work out, I spoke on the telephone to the last guy for over two hours. We had a good rapport and his voice sounded sexy.  We decided to meet that night at a bar around the corner from The Barbizon.  I took a friend along for moral support.  We sat at the bar and waited just a short time before I heard someone call my name.  I turned around expecting to see Prince Charming.  Instead I saw a man that looked like Clarabelle the Clown with three clumps of red hair on his head - one clump on each side and another clump on top of his head - the rest was bald.  Shocked and disappointed, I quickly turned to my girlfriend and we talked until we were certain he had left the bar. 

Some friends who also lived at the Barbizon had homes in Connecticut.  On weekends they often went home and sometimes would ask me to join them. On one of those weekends I had an unusual dilemma - two dates in the same night.  My first date was a guy I knew, but wasn't wild about, so I pretended I had a cold when we went out that night and soon after asked him to take me back to my friend's house. Within minutes my second date arrived.  It was an incredibly close call!

Still living at The Barbizon, I re-connected with an old boyfriend from high school.  He was now a midshipman at Annapolis and called to tell me that he was going to be at West Point for the weekend as part of an exchange program and wanted me to be his date.  I had been dating West Point cadets and loved it there, so I was looking forward to that weekend.  When I met him at West Point, he looked so sharp in his uniform.  That weekend there was a huge dance with a band and it was wild. In all the commotion, my date and I got separated.  I met a West Pointer I liked and we left the dance to go to Kissing Rock.  The midshipman and I never spoke again. 

Speaking of midshipmen, I met another one while walking by a restaurant on Broadway.  I noticed him sitting in a booth with another man.  They weren't in uniform, but I recognized them by their military chins. I had a lot of chutzpah then, walked into the restaurant and asked them if they went to West Point.  They said they were midshipmen at Annapolis.  I gave the one I liked the best my phone number and address and we wrote to each other.  Soon after that he invited me to Annapolis and I fixed up my girlfriend with one of his friends.  After we arrived, I was surprised to learn that they reserved one hotel room in Washington D.C. for the four of us.   When we told them we had no intention of sleeping with them, the date ended abruptly.  We left immediately and drove back to New York City that night. 

I dated another guy for a while who was a collegiate wrestling champ. Our relationship was pretty platonic, mostly dinner dates to the New York Athletic Club and Benihana (he knew the owner, Rocky, from wrestling).  One weekend he invited me to go to a resort in New Jersey with his family. After we arrived and I was settling in my room, he sat down and began expressing his love for me.  I didn't feel the same way and had to tell him so. The tension in the room was so uncomfortable after that conversation I decided not to stay for the weekend and went home.

About five years later while working in the Legal Department of a Fortune 100 company in Toledo, Ohio I received a call from the receptionist, who was a friend of mine.  She asked if one of my co-workers and I would be interested in going to dinner that night with two salesmen who were from out of town.  I was in my twenties and thought - why not?  So we arranged to meet them around 5:00 p.m. at the Steak and Ale.  While we were sitting in the lounge waiting for our table, the guys' conversation started getting a little off color, which made us very uneasy.  So when the hostess told us our table was ready, the men followed her to our table.  I looked at my friend and whispered "Let's RUN!"  We then ran to my car as if our feet were on fire and sped out of there. We never heard from them again.

I was dating a guy from work, and although things were going pretty good, there were some things about him I didn't like. I couldn't exactly figure it out, so I made a list of pros and cons.  I came up with 4 pros and about 40 cons.  When I saw how many cons I had written, I decided I should break up with him. So when he called me that night I told him I made a decision that day.  He excitedly asked "What?" to which I replied "To break up with you."  He was caught off guard, but what else could I do? 

My next victim invited me to be his date for a Labor Day weekend party on his boat.  When I arrived for the weekend, my date acted like the perfect host, but not the perfect date.  He didn't spend any time with me.  I waited an hour or two to see if he would change, and when he didn't, I didn't say a word, but simply walked off the boat while he was being Mr. Hospitality.   

When I lived in Boca Raton, Florida there was a man who worked for the same company as me who also lived in my apartment complex.  One night I had a date with him to see an opera.  We didn't hold hands all evening and I thought he acted indifferent.  So I was surprised when we got back to the apartment complex that he invited me in for a drink.  I took no more than two sips of ice tea and heard him speed-talk "Do you want to stay the night?"  He spoke so fast I could barely make out the words.  I quickly fired back "No!" and that was the end of that date.

I admit ditching some of these dates was exhilarating at the time, but I don't recommend it.  I also admit I was superficial and while trying to cut my losses early, I unintentionally hurt some feelings.  Fortunately, I'm no longer that brazen, mischievous girl.  Marriage, motherhood and menopause have calmed me down and I have been living an mainstream existence ever since.