Life is often more exciting than fiction and a midlife dating experiences are no exception. I recently met a man online and we clicked with very little effort in our messages and phone call. It would be his first post-divorce date and I intended to make it a memorable one. My car decided to make it even more memorable... for both of us.
We met at an incredible sushi place where the conversation continued to flow in person, just as it had before. In fact, I still had a long list of things I wanted to explore about him that I didn’t even get to ask because other topics kept us captivated. We had a drink after dinner and sat outside until it started raining, before getting in my car and talking (and kissing) 20 minutes more. I had the key turned, the air and radio on, until they surprisingly turned off on their own.
I tried to start the car…battery dead.
Thankfully, my date had jumper cables…I think I had some somewhere but wasn’t entirely positive. It was nice to not have to worry about it. He ran off to get his car to drive it over next to mine. Actually, as it turns out, this experience is the perfect thing to happen on a first date…well, unless it’s a bad date and then maybe it would be a disaster.
Here’s the unique benefits of being put in a less than ideal situation on a first date...
1. It Shows His Character
When I told my date I would have to write about this and said he could pick his moniker, to which he replied “Well, Mr. Awesome, obviously!” Mr. Awesome showed great patience throughout it all. He didn’t complain about how close I parked to the line of bushes, like my hood was basically IN them. He didn’t act exasperated about having to stick around longer or being inconvenienced. He was laid back, gentlemanly and nearly cheerful. Maybe he IS Mr. Awesome?
2. It Shows Your Character
Mr. Awesome also got to see that I didn’t get freaked out, how I solve problems (by hoping cute men who I just kissed will help me out) and how it takes a lot to ruffle my feathers. It’s one thing to say it, it’s another to have an opportunity to prove it. We both got to see how equally easy-going we are which is great to know about the compatibility factor…normally it would take weeks or months to get this kind of data!
3. You Can Spend a Little More Time Together
This was a great perk, obviously. I held the flashlight (on my phone—thank you very much, Apple) while he hooked up the cables, joining our cars. This has to be some sort of cosmic metaphor or sign, right? (If only I weren’t so practical I might believe that—oh well!) We were both getting lightly rained on and cracking jokes. I sat in his car while his battery was juicing up mine, which allowed for more conversation we may have missed otherwise, like googling for an all-night AutoZone and having a plan B if the jump didn’t work. What could be romantic than extending the date shopping for car batteries, windshield wiper fluid or those little air freshener thingies that hang from your mirror?
4. We Got To Share a Few More Kisses
Yeah, this is a big bonus…we had more kisses intermittently while he was hooking up the cables, while we talked in his car and then when I had to properly thank him for sticking around for helping a girl out. More smiles, more hugs and more kisses are never a bad thing.
5. He Can Play Hero to Your Damsel in Distress
Role-playing, anyone? Not really, but I am super feminine and enjoy masculine men, so I got to see a perfect example of Mr. Awesome in all his masculine and I was in my feminine. I even said thanks for rescuing this “damsel in distress” and then jokingly told him I had an app on my phone that caused my car not to start so I could see how he handled playing the hero! There’s no bigger turn-on for me than a man who knows how to work with his hands, and Mr. Awesome looked Damn Sexy with those jumper cables!
All in all it was FUN! Imagine that…of course, it could have turned out differently if Mr. Awesome, wasn’t well, so awesome, but he sure lived up to his moniker correctly!
By the way, if you find yourself in a similar situation while on a date with Mr. Dud, DON’T try this experience. Save yourself some angst and insist on calling AAA, because surely one of those A’s stands for Awesome, right?