Date 158

"No more apologies." 

This was a bad date and that was partly down to me as I've no idea why we met in the first place. I sort of knew beforehand that we didn't have much in common but sometimes I just like to go out and meet new people, so tend to go on more dates that I should (no shit; it's date 158!!!).

She suggested the pub we should meet in and whilst it wasn't that much of a trek for me, it still took about 1.5 hours door to door to get there. When I did arrive, I found out that it was only 5 minutes from where she lived, which was a bit bloody convenient for her. 

I didn't really know what to make of her, as she was quite full of herself and let me know very early on that if we did stay in touch then it would be as friends and nothing else. Which is completely fair enough as I always welcome honesty. However, she then proceeded to rattle off all the things that she didn't like about me...One of them might have been not listening to people whilst on dates, but I can't remember the rest as I'd zoned out by then.

The worst part of the night was actually the fact though that I have no definite idea of how I got home that evening (that's also not taking into consideration that I think I may have knocked her glass of wine over at some point). Which genuinely still scares me as I'm normally very careful about these things, especially as I was in a completely unfamiliar area. Despite it being a rubbish date, we got really drunk and I don't know how. I've got a vague idea that my journey home involved two taxis but that's pure guesswork. I'm still ashamed of letting myself get so pissed and I think that it's acted as a real wake-up call for me even though I'm not a regular drinker. Despite being so inebriated, I still managed to use a cash-point, hang my coat up, lock the back door and fold my clothes up neatly before waking up and having no idea how I'd got in my bed. My one error though, had been to leave my keys in my niece's highchair which my sister found the next day!

I also wanted to use this post to discuss what should have been Date 159.

Shortly after the above disaster, I'd arranged to meet someone for drinks a lot closer to home. Since, I'd been left abusive voice mails by a previous nutcase, I'd been slightly reluctant to swap numbers, although this person didn't ask to and I don't think it would have made any difference anyway.

The location, day and time had been set by this supposed 159th date and I was looking forward to it, plus it had been confirmed as we'd been speaking the day before. I got to the pub a bit early so sent her a message via the Bumble app to say I'd ordered a drink and was sitting at the bar. About 20 minutes later I'd finished my drink and hadn't heard anything from her and obviously by this time she was running late. I then ordered another drink and spotted a booth seat and table free so nabbed that and messaged her again to tell her where I was sitting. It then dawned on me that she wasn't coming and for the first time in my life I'd been stood up by a date. Although I knew she wasn't going to show up I got another drink as I'd made all the effort to come into Brighton so thought I'd have one for the road.

I finished that drink and was just about to leave when I belatedly received a message from her. A full hour after we were meant to meet and it was the biggest load of bollocks I've ever heard. She claimed that she hadn't been able to access the app during the day, so by her Planet Weirdo logic had presumed we weren't meeting....which is quite an assumption to make. I said I'd been there an hour and was just about to leave and she responded by saying that was a shame as she'd been Christmas shopping nearby and really fancied a pint. So, at no point did she think to venture into the bar and check if I was there. She was also seemingly more concerned by her thirst than the fact that she'd stood me up. I was absolutely livid but I didn't reply so when I got home and I'd heard nothing from her, let alone an apology, I deleted her from the app and reported her (not that anything would happen anyway). 

I suppose I'd done well to get to this many dates and not have experienced a 'no show' before, as I'm sure its very common, but it's such a cowardly thing to do and I've no idea how anyone can just not turn up. What the hell is wrong with people?! I also vowed never to use Bumble or go on a date again...but of course I did.