Date: September 2005 (yeah, I missed this one)
How we met: Match.com
Previous flirtations: Emails and phone. The best part of the phone conversation is that you may notice this was immediately following my final breakup with CPGH. I therefore was hoping for a Jewish man, although the Optometrist's description on Match said "no religion." I only knew his first name, as his email address was just his initials. Therefore, when I called his cell and got his voicemail, I was thrilled, as I would be able to get an idea of his familial history from his last name. Unfortunately, after Sprint lady did her spiel ("You have reached the mailbox of..."), his voice came on and said only his first name: "Optometrist." No Goldstein or O'Donnell to give me any further clues...
What we did:
The Optometrist knew that I love my Red Sox. Therefore, for our first date, he managed to secure Sox tickets to a game in September (for those not from Boston, this can be a near-impossible feat). Of course, me being me, I completely forgot that I had my own tickets to the game that night and had already promised a girlfriend that I would take her.
I felt awful, but could not ditch out on my prior plans. The Optometrist and I therefore agreed to meet up after the game. When the game ended, my friend and I poured out into the street with the rest of the crowd. The Optometrist and I were on our cell phones, trying to figure out where the other was.
At one point, I saw a handsome man on a cellphone heading toward me, looking around. He was in the general vicinity in which the Optometrist said he was walking. I therefore showed all my years of eductation, and asked into my phone, "I think I see you. Are you on your phone right now?"
I guess the Optometrist didn't pick up on how ridiculous my question was, and said, "Yeah!" as he (also known as the handsome man on the cell phone) closed his phone and walked toward me.
We went to Jillian's, where the four of us (me, him, my friend, his friend) sat and talked for a couple of hours. My friend had a boyfriend, and his friend was married, so without the pressure of a possible set-up, the two of them got along great, and left the Optometrist and I to talk.
He was very intelligent, handsome, and had a very easy laugh. I was happy we had been able to salvage the date after my mess-up.
Nickname: He was a pediatrist. Just kidding.
FDS: 8 our of 10
How long it lasted: About a month. He even got to meet my sister. There just wasn't much chemistry there, and I could not convince myself that there was. We have stayed friends. And I found out he wasn't Jewish on our second date.