How to Not Understand People - Part Two

I made a new friend a couple weeks ago. I'm a friendly person and talk to almost anything that moves - including birds and spiders (although, I shouldn't say that because ya'll are going to think I'm crazier than I actually am...). But back to the point. I may not understand people, or like everyone I meet, but I do enjoy meeting people. It amuses me on a certain level. I like seeing what makes people tick and get ticked-off. I like figuring out how they think and why they do what they do. I'm a curious person, if you will.

Anyway. So, this friend and I ended up having a semi-heated conversation about Hindu nationalism, and I ended up adding him on Facebook. We continued our discussions about Indian politics for a couple of messages and then he said, 'let's meet up over coffee to continue the discussion.' Being the friendly person that I am, I said yes.

Fast forward to coffee-day. I got there late and we ordered our drinks and sat down. He got this coffee with whipped cream on it, and I got the usual - black with a touch of milk and sugar. (I judge people by what they order.) We talked about a bunch of things, and then he started saying some weird things - like how his mother has no problem with vegetarians (I'm one) and loves her veggies, even though he's an obsessive meat eater - and stuff. Red flags started waving, but I put them aside. After a while, it started getting awkward, and I decided to finish my coffee as soon as I could. So I did. Looked at my watch and announced that I had to go.

I got up to leave and waited for him to grab his stuff and walked out the door. Stumbling under the weight of his bags, he came outside, stopped, looked at me, grinned in that way and said, "so, when do I get to see you again?"

At which, I groaned. I don't get it. At no point along the entire period from meeting him to drinking coffee with him had I indicated that I was interested. Far from it, in fact.

Dudes reading this:
a) Tell her it's a date!
b) Don't ask her out over Facebook.
c) And don't assume that just because we talk to you, we want to go out with you, or sleep with you or whatever else...

Anyway. Back to the story. I told him I was super busy and I didn't know when would work. Then I turned around and left, feeling sort of sorry for the guy but not much...

Sigh.