You blow me off, and want me to...WHAT? - Francesca

I met a seemingly cool person off of Craig's List, which was rather surprising. I mean, most of them never made it past the first date, but this one made it for a couple of months. I should have seen the massive red flags surrounding his previous relationship issues, but decided that since it had been a year and a half, it'd be okay. Bad move on my part. But he was cute, smart, sarcastic, and actually challenged me. I was digging it. We went to shows together, partied, played video games...it was a fun time. But after a couple of months, things started to change. I can pinpoint the exact moment...we were hanging out, drinking till 4 a.m., and he asked me if I would consider him my boyfriend. Even without the bottle of Cap'n, I probably would have agreed, but man, that mango-flavored rum is DELICIOUS. The next day, he started distancing himself. Now, I must preface this with one fact: my number one pet peeve is people who blow off plans to hang out without calling or notifying me. The first time we were supposed to hang out was after I went to a Sox game...I was going to cook him dinner as a celebration of his first week teaching at a new school. I was running late after the game, so I called him...no answer. I got home and started to get things ready to cook...but try to call again before I actually put the food in the oven...no answer. Two days later, he calls, saying he lost his cell. Okay...I let it slide. The next weekend we were supposed to go to a concert together...one my favorite artists, and a friend. The night before the show, he emails me to tell me how excited he is to go to the show. Saturday comes...I call him mid-afternoon to sort out our plans. No answer. I call him as I'm leaving for the show. No answer. I decided that I didn't care, and I'd go have a good time anyway, which I did. Another 4 o'clocker, but that's not that relevant. I get a call almost a week later from him...and I've moved past angry-I wrote him off as another flaky dude. But he convinces me to hang out with him the next night so he can make it up to me. I begrudgingly agree...my next mistake. He meets up with me after work, and we go to my neighborhood pizza joint to get some takeout. He throws a tantrum in the pizza place because it's taking too long for the food. I literally had to take him outside and leave him in the car. I'm annoyed and am about to tell him to start walking to his car...but the pizza comes, and I'm hungry, so I decide to eat first. When I'm hungry, I get kinda cranky, and wasn't sure if my annoyance was hunger-related. We have our slices, and I'm expecting the apologies to begin. Why, I don't know. But instead, he grabs the remote, and turns it to the Sox game. Then, he starts to loosen his belt...and tells me that he would really appreciate me going...umm...no. Sorry, dude, but what???!!! You've got to be kidding me. I haven't kicked anyone out that fast in my life.

Dumber than a bag of hair - Francesca

Okay, so this date...if you can call it that...was not supposed to happen. I was supposed to go to a concert with a friend from work, and she had to bail at the last minute. I had two tickets, and couldn't get anyone else to go. So, I branched to the people I'd been chatting with online, going in order of how much I liked them. It's tough to get someone to go to a show at the last minute, so by the time I got to number seven, I was ready to give up. But he answered, and said he wanted to go. I told him about the bands...it was a punk show, and I figured he wouldn't know much about the bands. He checked it out, and seemed into it, so...why not? Anything is better than going to a show alone...or so I thought.

I picked Nate up...he seemed okay on paper...27, employed....well, I guess I didn't know much about him. But again, person to take the ticket...worth it to me. We ended up taking the train into Boston, so we had time to talk...this was the start of the downfall of the date. He spent the entire time ranting about his ex, how she was terrible, and how she'd turned him into the police for drugs. Wow...a winner. By the time we got to the show, I was desperate to lose him. I realized I really am a nice person, because if I'd been any meaner, I would have left him at the show and gone home. Once we entered into the venue, it was better...the loud music drowned him out and I could have a drink, which I did need. The first band was fun, and I went to buy a CD after their set. As I bought the CD, I started talking to the band and their merch guy, only to have Nate run up...not to talk to me, but to try to talk to the band about a bizarre dream he'd had the night before. Even odder, it was completely unrelated to anything anyone had talked or sung about before. He was kind of thick, as the singer told him he was in the middle of something with me, and he'd talk to him when he was done with the conversation. Nate kept talking. I escaped to the mosh pit for Zebrahead, because I had to take out some of the frustration...I was at a fun show, and he was kind of killing it. I managed to enjoy the rest of the show despite his attempts to drag me down.

However, the show ended...and we still had the train ride back and the drive back to his house. On the way back, Nate kept talking. He went on about how the only future of music is hip hop, and the rest of music is filled with idiots. He even went so far to say that punk has no soul or meaning...not a way to impress a punk rock girl, especially when she just took you to a punk show that you said was fun. He then went onto his conspiracy theories, which I usually enjoy. However, it felt less like theories and more like someone reading back issues of High Times. At one point, he went on about how the world was going to end on 12/12/2012, and asked me what I thought about it...and the only thing I could say was "Wow, that's not soon enough." I'd reached the end of my rope and my patience. I explained that I appreciated his opinions, but I had no idea how he'd reached his conclusions. He continued to try to explain to me that he was the smartest person on the planet, and could see things most people couldn't, and he felt bad that I couldn't reach his level of understanding, but with time, I could maybe start to understand. I tuned him out for the rest of the drive, and dropped him off at his house, and told him to have a good one. He wouldn't get out of the car-he wanted me to come in, or at least make out a little. I started laughing, and told him that when he stooped down to my plane of intelligence, he would understand.