The story starts while I was on the final crossing at Go Ape. It was highest level of the hardest obstacles. There are skinny planks, each hanging from the tress by two ropes. My nerves were still getting to me. I slowly crossed each plank.
“Any tips?” I yelled to Meredith, who had just crossed the course.
Down on the ground, Christina replied, “Don’t fall in love!”
Unbeknownst to me, the person manning the zipline and stationed next to Meredith heard Christina and laughed. He then offered encouragement to me, “You’re going to have to pick up the pace.”
“Excuse you!” I exclaimed with a smile. “I don’t do this 100 times a day!”
“You’re definitely more of a tortoise than a hare right now.”
I made my way across slowly, despite the encouragement.
Once across, I said, “Yes, last one, and then you’ll never have to see our face again!”
He thought I said something like “I never want to see your face again.”
I continued conversation. We exchanged a few tidbits about ourselves, like where I was from, and living situations during covid. I took the opportunity to ask for a bar recommendation. I put him on the spot and he couldn’t think of anything. Meredith had already flown down the line and Luisa was behind me waiting.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m going to zip down and then I’ll come back for the recommendation.”
I nailed the landing. Waiting for me were Meredith and Christina.
“Did you get his number?” They asked.
We returned the harnesses and I went back to his platform.
“Did you think of something?” I yelled from below.
There was a line for the zipline, so he wasn’t able to chat. He recommended his neighborhood. “Here, I’ll give you my number and we can talk more later.”
I took down his number and texted him right away.
He responded at the end of the day. His neighborhood was adjacent to another neighborhood recommended by someone else I met that week (I slid into their dm’s). We found a bar with a good vibe and headed over.
Nearby, there was a barcode, which Christina expressed interest in. Replay in Lincoln Park was decorated as a Nick Arcade. It had almost every Nickelodeon show I grew up with featured (missing: As Told By Ginger and All That). The “Hey Arnold!” stoop was my favorite photo opportunity.
The Midnight Society section was my favorite portion. There was even a clown in a closet that reminded me of the opening theme. I went closer to take a photo and still got freaked out. Clowns scare me, especially “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” clowns.
@jmeprcn ##vlog When the bar has all the nostalgia ##nickelodeon ##nickarcade ##nicktoons ##tetris ##midnightsociety
♬ Take Me There - From "The Rugrats Movie" Soundtrack - Blackstreet & Mya & Mase & Blinky Blink
I texted guy #1 that I was in his neighborhood. I could have texted earlier, and he offered his place as a pit stop. It was straightforward and I couldn’t make the leap to go there or meet up. By the time he offered to come by, we were already leaving.
The meet was cute, but my heart wasn’t in it. I didn’t have flutters. I didn’t feel sparks. I miss that feeling. And I think it’s okay to hold out until I find that. I’m not looking for anything right now. Plus I don’t know yet how to factor in the new covid world. Would I feel comfortable getting to know a complete stranger?
I sought out reassurance from Nicole. She could understand my single mind. Her reply:
Your comfort > politeness
That’s what it would have been if I showed up. Politeness. I didn’t want to be there, but I felt like I should.
No comments:
Post a Comment