A Bad Date in Hollywood

Okay, I have an admission to make.

*hangs head in shame*

I really, REALLY like that REALLY STUPID MTV show, "The Hills."

There. I said it.

I am fully aware it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ridiculously stupid. I know it doesn't really match up with my interests or intelligence quotient. But, I TiVo it and watch the dumb show anyway. Here's why.

It is very refreshing to see that no matter where you are--no matter how glamorous your life may be--your twenties are still probably going to have the same drama. Uncertainty about your future, what you want to be when you grow up, boys that are dumb and some that are not, and going through it with your friends.

These girls have a lifestyle that I never did, and never will have. They live in the Hollywood Hills and despite the fact that they are 20 year old INTERNS, they have a nicer furnished apartment than any furniture I have in my house NOW. They drive ridiculous Mercedes Benz cars, wear expensive clothes, and go out to glamorous LA clubs.

Now, for me, I spent the early part of my twenties in a blue-collar kind of town, drinking Rolling Rock and eating happy hour pizza at the local holes in the wall, trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted to be with my best friends. So, in a way, it's a TEENSY bit similar. Take out the glitz and glamour, and it's the same old story.

So, it's nice for me to see that it doesn't matter where you live. It doesn't matter if you move to the "it" town and have Daddy Dollars coming out your nostrils. You have the same ol' same ol'. And I enjoy seeing that, and remembering going through some of the stuff these poor little rich girls are going through.

A bad date is a bad date, no matter if it's Brody Jenner or some guy I met at Local Bar X. And I remembered this last night, as I had a bad date with the Masters Swim Team.

I sort of knew this was going to happen. But I've been desperate for some things to change around here--hoping things will change and ready to try anything to make it happen--so I took up my buddy Joh when she said that I should give it a shot. Now, for me, swimming is a solitary thing. I spent many a year getting yelled sets and having a whistle blown in my ear doing endless laps, so I really, really enjoy swimming solo now. But I'm desperate.

"Sure," I thought. "No problem--I haven't had a swim in 2 months--literally--but I can usually wing it in the pool."

Almost everything about my date was wrong, starting with the first guy I met there, who was about as warm and welcoming as the Berlin Wall in January. He clearly was trying to "size me up," and bombarded me with questions that eventually got quite rude and obnoxious. Where, oh where is Joh? Agh!

The best part of my date was hanging out with Mr. Buckeye (totally cool hubby of Buckeye Runner) and Joh. Other than that, I knew it wasn't a good fit for me within about five minutes--just like a real date.

It's not you, it's me.

See, lots of other people like you, Masters. But we're not clicking.

I think I'd just be better off alone for a while.

And, like any bad date, well...then at least you know. So you shake hands, say "nice to meet you," and you leave. You find someone that's much more your type, since only you really know why it wasn't clicking.

Now, I should never say never. Matt, my hubby, tried several times to ask me out when I was in 10th grade and he 11th. I kept turning him down, despite the fact that he was the nicest guy ever, very cute (of course), and all my friends were knocking me upside the head saying YOU IDIOT! GO OUT WITH HIM!

I just needed about 9 more years before we really connected. And look how things ended up!

So, perhaps Masters and I are not finished. For now, however, we are. Aside from hanging with 2 cool people, everything else about it felt wrong at the moment. I need a break and it just didn't work for me. Totally not my style right now.

So, whether you're 20 in the Hollywood Hills, or 29 in blue-collar Cleveland, Ohio, you know when it's right and when it's not. And why waste your time?