I met Ginger on the same site that I found Hands on. He was tall (about 6”3), broad and had fiery orangish-red hair. He wasn’t altogether unattractive although his look definitely took some adjusting to (sunglasses helped). He had messaged me on the site and I figured that I’d get some experience dating by meeting him. He seemed interesting from what I had gathered. He was 33, worked in construction, had dogs and owned his own home. He seemed to be very sure of himself, opinionated and possibly a little pushy but I guessed I might just be a little oversensitive to those things since I am generally easy-going and non-confrontational.
Ginger asked me to meet him at a Sushi restaurant. When I got there, he hadn’t arrived yet and since I was familiar with the place I went in and took a seat on the bench by the door. I didn’t see Ginger approaching but as soon as he was through the door, it was impossible not to see him. He was a giant with red hair, you couldn’t miss him. He had a loud, booming voice and greeted me enthusiastically (causing me to shake a little in fear of being squashed). Right away the wait staff came to seat us (as far away from the other guests as possible, I guess they had some kind of sixth sense).
Immediately after sitting Ginger shouted across the table (that was only a foot wide) to inquire what day it was (if you have a date on a particular day, and you show up for said date, should that not indicate to you what day it is?). Upon confirming that it was indeed Sunday, he pulled out his phone, flipped it open and proceeded to dramatically make a call. I sat silently as he roared into the phone at the person on the other end. It became clear (to everyone in the place) that he was talking to a family member. He asked to speak to Marie, and then said “I love you hunny, Happy Birthday”. At this point, I wasn’t sure if it was rude for me to be sitting across the table listening to his conversation but after about five minutes of speaking to Marie, he hung up the phone and turned his attention to me.
After apologizing and explaining that he absolutely had to make the call because it was his niece’s birthday and he had forgotten to call earlier he began to quiz me on my life. Before I could respond to his questions, he slammed his ginormous arm down on the table and hollered “I’m just going to break the ice; we’re both nervous, it’s very clear that we’re both uncomfortable in this situation”. Well umm….actually I hadn’t been. I certainly felt uncomfortable once everyone in the restaurant realized it was my first date with this loud monster though. Thankfully the waiter had enough grace to try and rescue me. He showed up at that moment to take our drink order. I was tempted to order something strong to block out the embarrassment it was becoming clear this date would bring, but I worried that the giant may try to get frisky if I got tipsy, so I ordered water. “You’re no fun” the giant complained, sulking like a child. Desperate to move on, I pulled out the menu which the giant promptly took from my hands (similar to how my five-year old nephew likes to grab things from me). He began checking off the items he wished to order, and did not question me on what I might like until he got to the sashimi. I am not a big meat-eater; in fact, some friends of mine assume I am a vegetarian because they have never seen me eat meat. The giant ginger stated to me “You’ll have two of this, two of that and two of these etc…” Apparently he is deaf because he gave me no indication that he had heard what I said about not eating meat. As soon as he was done checking off all the boxes of things I didn’t ask for, he held his arm up and snapped for the waiter’s attention…..yes, he snapped at the waiter. Never had I been more offended while eating a meal with someone. I felt bad for the waiter and for myself, being seen with this man that clearly knew no etiquette. The waiter ran to the table to attend to the giant ginger, and it became clear within seconds that he had waited on him before. The ginger laughed to the waiter “I love coming here, you always respond to me so quickly”. I must have had some sort of expression on my face because the ginger than turned to me and said “I bring all my first dates here because this waiter guy always gives me what I want”. I hoped the waiter guy at least got a good tip.
Recognizing that I truly did not like this man and was not enjoying this date, I decided to focus on the meal. When the food came, I began picking through the rations for items I might enjoy. The giant was talking, well boasting really, about his life but I was not volunteering any information that wasn’t necessary about mine. I decided to do what it took to make this date end as fast as possible. My plan was working until the food began to get sparse. Ginger, realizing I hadn’t touched any of his sashimi (and for that matter was never planning on touching his sashimi…), grabbed a piece of what appeared to be raw salmon and said “you have to eat this or we’re not leaving”. I laughed. This man could not be serious. I hadn’t had a conversation like this since I was seven and refused to eat meatloaf at my Dad’s house. His face began to get red and his voice became louder “I’m serious; you’re not going anywhere until you try this”. I looked at him and tried to decide how much of a threat he was…what could this scary giant do to me that would make it worth eating raw meat to avoid? I didn’t know, but my odds didn’t seem good so I took a small section of the meat and put it in my mouth. “Let me see your tongue. I want to make sure you swallowed it”. I could only imagine what he was like in the bedroom.
As the date ended the waiter brought us the bill. Normally I’d offer to pay my way on a first date but given the horror I had just experienced, I didn’t even make the effort. As we walked outside, the giant offered me a ride which I promptly denied. “That’s okay, I have to get home anyhow and my Mom said I should go to bed early tonight” he barked. “I’d invite you over, but my Mom doesn’t like me bringing my girlfriends in the house” he finished. “I thought you had your own place?” I asked. “Oh I do. I told you. I’m in construction. I built my own shed in the backyard and I stay there unless I’m bringing a girl home” he answered. The giant ginger lived in a shed in his Mom’s backyard. I was right after all…..he was interesting.
