I Said I’d Like That

I help men with dating. But this does not mean I am a perfect dater. Let me tell you about a coffee date I’ve been laughing about for six weeks.

We’ll call him… Corey. It’s a good 1980s heartthrob name.

We met online and hadn’t texted much before getting together. So I didn’t know a lot about him. I did know that I’d stayed up way too late working the night before and gotten very little sleep.

I should have rescheduled.

Instead, I went to coffee.

So, there I was, trying to get to know this man while repeatedly forgetting what I was saying… like, mid-thought.

He probably thought I was nuts. I was just exhausted.

We chatted. No sparks were flying. But he was nice, cool, and cute. I was interested in seeing him again.

We hugged. Then he said what I thought was:

“So, do you want to go out again?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“What?”

“I said I’d like that.”

And then I walked away. Confidently.

Having heard nothing, I texted him. He let me know he hadn’t felt a romantic connection. He also said nice things about meeting me (nice job, Corey!).

And that’s when a possibility occurred to me. A very strong possibility.

What if he hadn’t asked whether I wanted to go out again?

What if he’d said he didn’t want to go out again?

And I’d responded:

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Then, when allowed to reconsider, repeated it. Louder.

“I SAID I’D LIKE THAT.”

I still don’t know what he actually said. But the strong possibility that this man politely rejected me and I enthusiastically agreed has been making me laugh ever since.

There’s some useful advice here about getting enough sleep and rescheduling when you need to.

But also: you’re going to have awkward moments. You can be thoughtful, capable, and good at talking to people. And still walk away from coffee with absolutely no idea what just happened.

Laugh when you can. There’s another date ahead.