alright, maybe biting on bob marley isn’t the way to broach the topic. but i gotta have something catchy as a title right?
so its 2007. i didn’t know if some of you were aware of that. but it is. this is the technological age that we live in. you can pretty much get emails, texts, or have a conversation with someone at any given moment. everyone everywhere is totally accessible.
not only that, i think that the dating world as it exists has never been so forthright. so open. people know what they want and they go after it. whether it be in a bar, a church, online, at school, wherever, the world is geared to pair you off with others. not only that, but the level of communication associated with it is unprecidented. you can ask whomever you like out. vice versa. AND the openness has allowed you to say yes or no without any real repurcussions. makes for cut and dry, clean sort of communication. almost transactional.
those two points being made, how is it that someone in this world can still be stood up? sitting at a bar in a restaurant at an agreed upon time, waiting… what explanation is there for this?
none.
but i have to consider myself fortunate. i honestly think that this is the first time that i went to an agreed upon place and the person i was meeting didn’t show. how a putz like me made it to the ripe old age of 31 without that ever happening is beyond my comprehension.
so i thought about punctuality rules while i sat there and tried to make sense of it all. and i think this works for first dates and only when there is no call warning of a late arrival.
five minutes late is okay. it could have been traffic. not to say that those five minutes don’t feel like an eternity, but the big smile when they finally walk through the door makes it worth it. (maybe she did it on purpose to build anticipation?)
ten minutes is still a moderate offense. no harm done, but you were starting to cast doubts in my mind.
fifteen minutes? doubt has been cast. maybe she isn’t going to show. this means she didn’t plan ahead and that she really didn’t think high enough of you to be on time. unless “i am SO sorry i am late” are the first words out of her mouth followed by some sort of compliment, the first is more than likely going to be the last date.
20-25 minutes late? chick is seriously pushing her luck. she better hope that you agreed to meet somewhere with a TV with sports on it where you are going to feel like a schmuck for sitting there watching a game with a beer. (by the way, you can order that first beer between the five to ten minute mark. but don’t go chugging the damn thing because she will think you have either A. been there a long time or B. you are an alchy.)
after 25 minutes, i ordered grub to go. she wouldn’t have even had a shot with me if she walked through the door as i was settling my tab. its downright freaking rude. i got up, i stood up, and i walked the hell out. not the way bob would have finished the verse, but it worked for me.