Priorities

Back in the day I had a profile up on a popular online dating website. I occasionally went on a date. I was even set up on blind dates by friends who meant well but were obviously not paying attention to my likes/dislikes. All good times, I can assure you.

The other day I walked by a restaurant where I went one of those grand dates and was reminded of how painful those events were. We determined to meet up in the Rockefeller Center area and that we’d see how the encounter progressed – deciding to play it by ear with the rest of the evening.

Things were moving along nicely – discussion flowed relatively easily, the guy in question (I can’t remember his name or what he even looked like) wasn’t too painful on the eyes – so after a long time in the chilly weather, we thought dinner would be a logical move. Given that it was around the Christmas holidays, many of the places we check into were booked solid for the evening. We found one place that had space and were seated at a table in the back. The restaurant was structured in such a way that there was a bar in the front section and the formal dining room in the back. Like any good bar, there was an enormous television set. I happened to be sitting in the dining room facing the aforementioned humongous set. I will add that it was Sunday night.

Back in those days Sunday night was prime and pretty important television time. (It still is now to some but not so much for me.) At the time I was OBSESSED with the show ‘Alias’. OBSESSED doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt about that show.  I dreamed about the intricacies of that show. It just so happened that the screen at the bar was showing ‘Alias’ and despite the fact that the volume was nt on, I was entranced by the show. I could no longer pay attention to a single facial expression on date boy’s face, much less take in anything he was saying. I just couldn’t focus on anything but what ridiculous situation Jennifer Garner’s character was in and how she would get out of it.

And that, my friends, shows you what I ultimately thought of the guy. ‘Alias’ was far more important to me that night than holding a conversation or impressing my date. Needless to say, I don’t recall hearing back from him but I can’t say I blamed him. To this day though, I will admit that there are some guilty pleasures that I will never give up…I can’t think of them now but that thought pattern was true back in the days of ‘Alias’.