No Payment Is Necessary

Last Saturday I had a revelation. Do you want to know what it was? Well, it all started when I agreed to attend a 60th birthday party with my father while my mom was on vacay in Italy (yes, I agree it's a shame that Queen Gin&Tonic and Sweet N' Lo could not meet up for cappuccinos while they were both there), but I digress.

First, let me just let you know that 60 is like the new 40 -but better. I mean, back in the day, 60 was old (to me anyway). Now, 60 is retired, custom-built house on a hill with a view, and plenty of beer and wine. So, I went to this party expecting to have a fairly good time with my father and some of his fun-loving friends, and ended up meeting one of the 20-something sons of the couple that threw the party.

I guess the whole "revelation" thing started when I realized that I would not have to hand over my 16-digit credit card number in order to "view his profile" a la Eharmony. In fact, I owed this guy no payment at all except for good conversation in return for his. We ate, drank, and talked pretty much all night long about everything in the world and nothing in particular. I could tell he was into me because a) after we would drift apart in the crowd, he would come and find me; b) he is a Longhorn, but still checked the A&M v. Tech football score for me; and c) would say things like, "Wow, I think I am telling you way more about myself than you would ever want to know." Yeah, kind of, but it was also kind of refreshing to be around someone who wasn't trying so hard to be cool that his personality was a big fat zero.

Unfortunately, this guy lives in H-Town and I live north of Big D . . . so . . . yeah . . . that stretch of 45 is just so painful. But here's the deal: He invited me to be his "Charlie" from Top Gun for Halloween, but I had to say no due to plans to visit friends in Tucson, but we exchanged numbers at the party anyway.

And he called tonight. Seriously. I paid for no subscription. I wasn't at a fancy bar wearing my "keeping up with the Ashley's" trendy look. I mean, this was like a simple five step process. The very thing movies are made of! We said hello. We talked. He asked for my number. He called. He asked to see me again. BAM!

Now, I am in no way saying that I am in love at first sight with this guy. I don't even know him, but I just find it amazing that after months of paying Eharmony to introduce me to singles in my area that are compatible with my personality on "28 different points", that I have personally met only two of them. And free of charge, this guy wants to drive 4 hours north of where he lives and take me to a Dallas Stars game (or whatever I want to do).

There is something either really wrong or really right with this situation.