First and Last Blind Date

By Alia White

I've never been one for blind dates. It never made sense to go on a date with someone I didn't get a chance to see beforehand. But all that changed one recent Saturday night when I went out on my first blind date with a guy named Larry.

After urging me to date "this cute guy at my job", a close friend persuaded me to go on a blind date with her co-worker Larry. Against my personal judgment, I agreed. What could it hurt? According to my friend, he was attractive, in school, and had a real job, something the loser guys I've dated in the past never had.

Besides, I figured after the loser boyfriends and a string of bad dates I've had, I deserved a cute guy. And who knew? He could've ended up being husband material and the father of the 10 children I planned on having when I got married.

On the appointed night, he picked me up at my apartment around 8 o'clock. I had to admit he was very attractive. He wore a simple pair of jeans and a tee, with a pair of sneakers and a leather jacket, and a smile that unexpectedly made me blush slightly. Early in the date, I wasn't sure if I felt an attraction, but he did wear a fitted baseball cap, an accessory I've always found sexy in an odd way. His car, a gray Toyota Camry, even smelled as nice as he did, something that pleased me. The last guy I was involved with never bothered to clean out his car, let alone use car freshener.

My biggest fear was the strong possibility of it being awkward.But to my surprise, our small talk felt comfortable. As we drove to the Ms Tootsie's Restaurant on South Street we exchanged our thoughts about blind dates and any expectations about what we thought each other would look like.

I told him that I expected someone good-looking; mostly due to the way he was described to me by my friend who had set us up. He admitted he expected to see what he referred to as a "dog." Adding even more to my already huge ego, he told me I was beautiful and complemented me on my dress. He was definitely earning cool points.

At the restaurant, the lights were dim and the mood was great. Our small talk turned into a full-fledged conversation over dinner. I was amazed at how comfortable I felt. One simple question about school and I learned that a few semesters back, he attended Bloomsburg University in upstate Pennsylvania. Immediately, I thought of my cousin who attended Bloomsburg a few years back. It turned out that he knew my cousin and her former roommate and he described them both almost to a 'T'. I made a mental note to contact my cousin and ask her about Larry.  However, I didn't want to spoil the date because it was going amazingly well. Afterwards, he took me back to my apartment and we sat in his car talking until we finally said our goodbyes. I don't kiss or hug on the first date, especially one that started off "blind" so I bade him goodbye as he promised to call sometime the next day. I had survived my first blind date and it actually went well. I was excited, but eager to find out if my cousin knew anything about Larry.

I reached my cousin the next day and at first, didn't know who Larry was. Then she contacted her old roommate to see if maybe she knew him. After their conversation, she called me back and said that two possibilities emerged: The Larry my cousin's friend knew was named Larry Sanders, who not only had a girlfriend, but two children---twin girls, to be exact. I was taken aback. The problem was, I didn't know Larry's last name. I never bothered to ask him that or whether he had kids, let alone a girlfriend

In the end, I never told Larry about my conversation with my cousin or her roommate. I simply asked him if he had kids, which he admitted to -- with no shame, but denied having a girlfriend. Not being sure if he was telling the truth, I ended things right then and there. My excuse to him was I didn't want to date a man with kids.  He respected my choice but still called me hoping I would change my mind. I didn't.

To top things off, I got a friend request from him on Facebook. When I clicked on his page and checked his profile it read: "In a Relationship with Keisha Burroughs."

So much for that experiment. No more blind dates for me.