"So, I normally don't ask my dates to come armed, but...would you mind if we borrowed your foil for my play? I promise to take good care of it and get you free tickets to opening weekend!" She asked her potential date. He agreed, and they agreed to meet shortly after they were both off work.
She saw him getting out of his car in the alleyway behind her building to meet her for coffee with the foil. She almost called out to him, but didn't want him to see her coming out of her building. She followed behind, watching him jaywalk across the street to the coffeeshop. He was a lot bigger than the 50 pounds overweight he'd led her to believe he was. It was still workable, but she felt no immediate spark from seeing him. She walked over and took the actual crosswalk and came up behind him to say hi just as he was ordering.
"Hi" He said without too much feeling, then asked how much his coffee was and took out his wallet.
He paid for his coffee, then stepped aside to wait for her to order. He never offered to pay for her coffee. He never even attempted. She paid for her coffee awkwardly, and they found a spot to sit down. The air conditioning wasn't on for some reason, and she fanned herself for a minute with the scripts from her play.
They talked about their days, other things they had covered online. She felt like she was carrying most of the conversation talking, and hadn't really gotten to know him besides a few stories. She predicted she wouldn't be attracted to him, and here it was. But, was it because he was just nice and nothing more, or did her vagina just seal shut the second he didn't pay?
She was taking Feminism back 10 years with these thoughts, but...was chivalry really that dead? At least offer and let her decline, right? She was so floored, this guy was talking about second dates and taking her out to sushi for lunch...but he didn't want to shell out $5 for her iced chai latte?
Her friends all gave a resounding "Nope" when they heard about the not paying, men and women alike. Her co-worker even said "I think these things come around every once in awhile to test you, to see if you'll find into the same patterns. You don't need a guy who makes you pay, again."
She had an awesome point. Looks like she needed to get back out there.
