It had been quite a while since I had a been on brand new date having been ridiculously busy with life in general and of course I was still recovering from the Irish goodbye. So far there had been no word from that direction and I can only presume that the same age GF was still in the game. Hard as this has been to deal with I had been here many times before. My affection for him remains as strong as ever but life has to go on. In any event it is not like me to let nun-like behaviour become a habit.
So using my trusty Tinder App I start swiping left and right and get talking to a number of potentials. Beside endless messaging I did get no less than three on the phone (quite a feat I can tell you ) My mantra for dating is always get them on the phone and have a real conversation before you have that very first meeting. This always sorts out the men from the boys or in my case the boys from the men :).
The phone calls quickly eliminated number one who seemed a bit weird. Always go on your gut instinct. If you sense something doesn’t add up then you are probably right and don’t give him a chance because he has pretty eyes or a winning smile. You could be Little Red Riding Hood and he the Wolf in Disguise . Just get swiftly on to the next.
I had two left in my basket both seemed interesting and their pictures were pretty hot. I don’t have a type unless ‘younger than me’counts. One was really tall dark and in the military and the other was broad red haired and something in the city. One was clean shaven and one sported a fulł beard. What they did have in common however was their ability to make a date and then break a date !. The scourge of Internet dating and younger men in particular had reared its ugly head yet again.
I applied my two date rule that had saved me from complete madness many times before. I am as nice as pie when arrangements are broken the first time. I sympathize with their near death experiences at the hands of manflu! Commiserate with them about their nasty bosses who make them work late and research Sick Budgie Syndrome for them on the net with regards to their feathered friend who apparently has fallen off his perch and needs to go to the vet immediately…sigh!
But when arrangements are made the second time and excuses are proffered as to why they can’t make it yet again, I politely wish them good luck with their future dating and tell them to take care. I then delete and block their number and spend ten minutes reprimanding myself on how much younger I was when I started swiping right. Having wasted enough precious hours I decide to give my Tinder finger a rest.
So when I noticed that I had messages in my inbox on my new Instagram account which I was still getting to grips with I opened them with interest. Three messages all from guys, expressing an interest in my profile. I answered two of them and quickly built a rapport with one. This quickly progressed to whatsapp and then to a phone call.
He was entertaining but a bit younger than my average these days. That said I liked his face and found myself arranging to meet him for drinks in London. Ever expecting the ‘Budgie Text’ on the day, I was amazed to find that he confirmed the time and arrived just before me. He did look very young but wasn’t phased by me at all. Five cocktails later which he insisted on paying for he walked me back to the station holding my hand and kissing me with passion. Having scored a lot of brownie points and restored my faith in the male population I decided that young or not a second date was on the horizon.
The horizon came fairly quickly a few days later and there we were getting properly acquainted in every possible way. I had decided that having wasted too much valuable time on the the Tinder Tossers I’d better get a move on. He certainly had his moves on..and there was such a frisson of chemistry between us at one point that he took my breath clean away. The age gap had melted and we were just two people reminding each other why it was good to be alive. Maybe they should rename it Instadate instead of Instagram . I for one will definitely be checking my messages there more often. Tinder eat your cold and stony heart out !
