Chris

I decided I would try my luck with a blind date named Chris. I gave Chris’s father my cellphone number. Chris’s father is a salesman at the car dealership where I work and he had asked me if I wanted to meet his son. Chris called me the next night. He was very nice. In fact, I was more than a little surprised. He was funny and self-effacing, which I really like out of a guy just as long as underneath it all he has some self-confidence. Usually when I guy is self-effacing, he also has some self-confidence. I guess it takes some self-confidence to poke fun at yourself.

Chris is 28 years-old and he works for a company that supplies those heavy floor mats to professional buildings. A lot of buildings have them around their entranceways, so I was told. Chris drives one of the delivery trucks. He doesn’t make a lot of money but he said that he likes to be out on his own and away from supervisors. He never said or even implied that the job was somehow below him. I thought he would, but he didn’t, and I was glad. It’s good that not every guy feels he has to be a star just to be worthwhile. He finally asked if I would like to go out sometime and get a pizza. I said that I would.

Last night he picked me up at 7 o’clock and we went out for pizza. To drink, I had a glass of red wine, Chris had a beer. I noticed shortly after we sat down that Chris’s left hand was kind of scuffed up and sort of gross-looking. He told me that he had lost his left glove during the day, and pulling the floor mats off the truck and laying them on concrete floors can be kind of tough on hands, especially bare hands. I could literally see how tough on hands it was. I decided I would not let it bother me. It wasn’t like his hand was dirty, just scrapped up.

Chris could be serious, but also funny. I asked him if he had any college education. He said, “No college would accept me since I graduated high school with a 3.85 GPA.” He then paused and said, “No, I meant that I graduated with a .385.”

The server asked Chris if he wanted another beer. He pointed to me, shook his head no, and said that he’d better not since he was my designated driver.

Chris could be serious too. But nothing I revealed to him seemed to ruffle him. In fact, Chris seemed to understand where I was coming from. I told him that I had been in a relationship with an older guy for about a year and a half. Chris listened and then nodded knowingly. I confessed that almost every evening I went out into the night just to look up at the stars, and enjoy the darkness. He didn’t think it was at all nutty. He asked me about the constellations. When I told him I am an atheist, Chris smiled and jokingly said that I am “proof that atheists can be cute and sweet.”

We left the pizzeria about 9 or so and he asked me if I would like to go to his place and decorate his artificial Christmas tree. I told him that I would love to, but before we left the pizzeria I wanted a picture of us together. Without even thinking about it I put my arms around him, and he wrapped an arm around me. It just seemed like a natural thing to do. I think it felt that way for both of us.

It took us two hours to untangle the lights and get the tree completely decorated. Chris didn’t get me back to my apartment until after midnight. To tell you the truth, it wouldn’t have bothered me one bit had he not gotten back me back to my apartment until the next morning… if you know what I mean. I liked Chris that much. :)