Dateless in Denver: Another Sticky Situation

At the start of the summer, in anticipation of all those hot times ahead, we shared a string of articles about dating in Denver, including a cover piece that explored “Why Dating in Denver Is a Dumpster Fire.”

Then, because misery loves company, we introduced “Dateless in Denver,” a series of reader essays on the realities of dating in Denver – the good, the bad and the ugly – that most recently shared an account of how a ski day went very wrong. Now chew over what happened on this first date:

After spending the afternoon together on our first date, Jason* asked me if I wanted to stop for an early dinner before he took me home. As we were seated at our table at the restaurant, the server handed us our menus and pointed out the table tent that listed the happy hour specials with half-priced beers and $5 appetizers. Before I could even open the menu, Jason ordered two beers and two appetizers, then told the server that would be all we needed. I was a little surprised that he hadn’t asked me what I liked before taking complete control of my order, but rather than make a scene, I just let it go.

A few minutes later, the server arrived with our beers and appetizers. As soon as she set the plates on the table, Jason reached into his mouth and from somewhere deep in that cavern, he fished out the biggest wad of gum I have ever seen and stuck it to the side of one of the appetizer plates. Then he pushed the plate toward me and said, “Help yourself.”

I told him I wasn’t hungry, quickly finished my beer, and asked him to take me home. Of course, he made sure to retrieve his gum from the side of the plate and stick it back in his mouth before we left. A couple of days later, he had the nerve to ask me out on a second date. I declined.

*Names have been changed to protect the repulsive

Have a dating story – good or bad – that you’d like to share? An essay on the scene in general? We’ll be running another installment of “Dateless in Denver” next weekend. Send your submission to editorial@westword.com, where you can also comment on previous posts.