A Case of Mistaken Identity!

 Soundtrack Selection: It Ain't Me Babe by John & June Cash

Making fun of myself is one of my favorite things in life. So here goes...

Friday night, I head out to Chinatown for a first date. We're meeting for coffee. Now, I'm not a big fan of meeting for coffee on a first date. Given the title of this blog, I find alcoholic beverages, in moderation, are helpful in awkward and slightly stressful situations (of which a first date is probably the best example).

So, I show up at 6 PM on the dot at the only Starbucks I know in Chinatown. Sitting in a corner, alone and playing on his phone is a young guy. Now, I look at him first and think, oh that's not him. But keep in mind, I've seen two pictures of this guy and recall several experiences where I've shown up and the guy in the picture looks nothing like the guy standing in front of me (in every case, this was not a good thing). The minutes tick by and still no date. So I look back at the guy in the corner to get a better look, he looks at me, approaches me and says, "Are you Kate?" I reply in the affirmative, and he says, "I'm Steve."

Now at this point, I'm pretty sure I'm suppose to be meeting David, but it had been one of those weeks so maybe I wrote it down wrong. I mean, contrary to popular opinion, I'm not perfect!

Well Steve starts to talk a bit, and I ask him if his office is near here, knowing full well it is. He tells me that he's self employed, owns his own clothing line and asks me about my stock of self-designed handbags. At this point, I can hardly hold back my laughter. I look at him and say, "I don't think I'm the person you're supposed to be meeting." He says, "You aren't Kate." I say, "Well, I'm Katie, but only my Dad calls me Kate. And I think I'm supposed to be meeting David." We both laugh really hard and he says, "Well good luck with David," and I said, "Yeah, hope you find your Kate."

Come to find out, I was at the wrong Starbucks and as I trekked down to the right Starbucks, I laughed the whole way (largely because the Best in Show scene of the couple with the neurotic dog kept repeating in my mind...you Christopher Guest fans know which scene I'm talking about). Well if I knew then what I know now, I should have stayed right where I was. That way I could have enjoyed a nice latte alone without being insulted for my choice of sports teams, my political persuasions and my taste in early 90s grunge rock. Oh, and lest we forget the 20 minute conversation about how much David needed to procreate before his grandma kicked the bucket.

So lessons learned: Sometimes you gotta take the good with the bad to find what you really want. But more importantly, next time ask Steve for his number. That would definitely be worthy of a fireside story to my grandchildren!