He Didn't Start the Fire

Billy, 37
Met on Match
I can't say I was terribly excited to go out with Billy. I was worried I wasn't going to find him attractive, we had been communicating for over a month, and over the course of our emails, I learned that he works nights and lives in Renton. He had craftily omitted these facts in his profile. To make matters worse, he bailed on me on Wednesday night, so I wasn't really feeling energized by the idea of going out with him, but I got myself ready and went.

We met up in Columbia City - south of Rainier and a thriving little neighborhood. We planned to meet at the Starbucks but I'd just taken off my glasses after driving and all I could see as I entered were two man-shaped blobs. I thought for a moment that if this was the year 2000 and a romantic comedy, that this would be the plot - woman feels spurned after arriving at the wrong Starbucks. But instead, one of the man-blobs walked up to me and ta-da: Billy. Perhaps I'll wear contacts on future dates.

So here are most of the bad things about him in one sentence: Billy works nights as a police officer, he lives in Renton and wears braces. Surprisingly, even with all these things, I still kinda liked him. He's funny, he's nice, engaging, and we had a really nice night. He has completely rebuilt his home and seems like the type of guy who spends his free time fixin' up his house. He enjoys skiing, hiking, and cares about his friends. Conversation was easy and unlike with Adam, there was plenty of laughing. He didn't even mind when I jaywalked right in front of him.

Unfortunately, he said two fatal words; two words I just don't know if I can get over; two words that make me want to curl up in a ball and hide. He said "Fred Meyer". I dated a guy once who did all of his shopping at Fred Meyer, or as he called it, "Freddies". Whether he needed to buy furniture, clothes, groceries, or (embarrassingly) jewelery for me, it came from this superstore. Every Saturday he would gear up for the big trip to Ballard, make his list, clip his coupons, and grabbing a huge cart, would enter, aglow with the idea of cheap electronics and unnecessary brick a brack. I went to Fred Meyer so many times during that relationship that I can tell you where on the floor layout, you can find the smelly candles. So when Billy told me that he does his grocery shopping at Fred Meyer, the foodie inside me recoiled, my stomach turned, and I thought, well aren't I a snob.

But it's more than Fred Meyer. He didn't go to College, he doesn't read much, if at all, and he said a few things that make me think he is not very open minded. Literature, arts, food, and wine are all at the top of the 'things I love' list. I don't feel like we enjoy enough of the same things that we would be happy together. We live very different lives and different things are important to us.

Overall, we had a really nice date. He was a complete gentleman and he made me laugh. I guess I'm just an uptown girl, living in my white bread world.