Dated

Last weekend, i dropped in on a rather festive event… Following the premiere of a locally produced film, the after-party was held at a club downtown.  My friend, joey london (engineer, artist, DJ and eclectician extraordinaire) invited me to join the mash up.  Seems the best dance DJ in the area had planned a special treat, and joey guaranteed it’d be worth the trip.

It was a combination DJ (house/techno), live horn and percussion section on stage, and members of the local contemporary dance company joining forces for a massive throw down!  i went solo, figuring i’d meet up with friendly faces at the club.  The performance?  A complete marvel… the dancers were athletic, creative and gorgeous!  The music?  i couldn’t sit still!

At the end of the show, the dancers dragged us onto the floor for an ‘all skate’, and i hit it hard!  Danced my way through the crowd, hip-hopping with the hip-hoppers and going pogo-rific with the punks!  Fifteen minutes of sheer physical joy before the set finished and the stage was cleared for the next band.

As i stumbled off the dance floor, mopping the sweat from my head, i heard “Damn, woman!  You’ve got some energy!” and turned to see a nice looking young man grinning at me.  He offered to buy me a beer, and joined me at my table.  By way of honest declaration, i let him know that i’m damn near 50.  He didn’t budge… He’s mid-30’s, good looking and athletic.

We talked, and much to my surprise, he was clearly interested in chatting me up.  Asked about a boyfriend… i explained that i’m a bit of a ‘free range chicken’.  He then surprised me with the following question:  “Do you date black men?”  i’m not sure why it surprised me.  i’d accepted a beer, had offered to let him join me at my table…

He looked a little anxious as i slowly formulated my answer: “i date people.  It’s not an issue.” 

We continued to chat, agreed to maybe meet up for reggae, i gave him my number, and headed home.  Post-processing the conversation, i was still a little befuddled by the question.  i guess it makes sense.  Figuring he just wanted to get it out there and save himself a potential headache if it wasn’t in the realm of the plausible.  And i guess there are plenty of women who accept a beer from someone they clearly have no interest in talking to again*… 

i dunno.  i thought we were past this… i was a little put off by his relative youth.  Not his skin color…  Weird…

it's like invisible ink...

* i’ve refused drink offers in bars if it’s simply someone i don’t want to talk to.  i think that’s the right thing to do.  A friend of mine lives by the credo that “I should drink for free!” and is generally successful…  i’ve seen her let all manner of aliens and toothless briars buy her beer.  This shit is still a bit of a mystery to me.  i suck at dating….