I Could Not Avoid the Awkwardness of This Date

I met a new guy last night.  Let's be simple and call him Argentina, since that is where he is from and that's a damn cool nickname.  Argentina speaks English very well, but has a thick accent that made it difficult for me to understand him.  This was not an insurmountable dating conundrum until you add in the fact that he is also hard of hearing.  I have a high pitched voice making it especially difficult for people with hearing difficulties to understand me.  The restaurant we chose was quite loud with background ambient noise.  Once all of these facts are considered, you will understand how difficult it was to communicate.

I honestly couldn't tell you much about Argentina.  I would have liked to ask more questions about where he is from, but he couldn't hear me well enough to accomplish this.  He was cute, boyish face, dark skin and dark eyes, black hair. 

The communication problems carried over into our orders as well.  Ordering two pizzas was the simplest solution, as we wouldn't have been able to communicate well enough to decide on mutual toppings.  Also, he doesn't like cheese.  I've never met someone who didn't like cheese.  I know people who can't eat cheese or choose not to eat cheese, but I've never known anyone who didn't like cheese.  His pizza came out with cheese.  Mine came out perfect. It was a deep dish with chicken, bacon and feta and it was fantastic!  They replaced his and offered the mistake pizza for free.  He declined.  I did not.  I got a free pizza to take home for my hubby this way.  He was very appreciative of that.

I was worried about how to end things gracefully, but once out of the restaurant I started walking towards my car and he walked with me.  We chatted awkwardly for a bit longer until he suddenly stopped and said he had to go the opposite direction.  One quick hug and a nice-to-meet-you later and it was over.  Whew.

I called NMB on my way home and we had our first phone conversation.  It was quite pleasant.  He'll be heading my way tomorrow night after his dinner with his in-laws.  I'm looking forward to it.