Share some stories!!

I'll start: Dating story number one:

“Dangerous Dave”
He got that name because of how insanely accident prone he was. His name wasn't even Dave. Our first date went rather smoothly. He was from Georgia and being recently relocated to California, he was experiencing some culture shock... much of which he didn’t shy away from vocalizing. While I periodically would respond to his comments by sinking down in my chair and quickly making sure that no one was within earshot to be offended, I also respected his honesty. Overall, it was a good first date. We agreed to see each other again.
The second date was at his place. I was a little unsure of meeting him at his place but of course didn’t want to meet at mine so early in knowing this guy with a seven year old in the mix. We decided on a movie in. I brought two movies (donated and recommended by my roommate), and a bottle of wine.
When I got to his place, I quickly realized how temporary it was. There was a couch, a table, and a mattress. The kitchen was limited to a small mini-fridge and some basic appliances (no dishes, etc). I brought the wine, but didn’t think to buy (or bring) an opener.

And this is where the fun starts…
He decides that he’ll open up his utility knife and push the cork down through the bottle (instead of up and out). He uses the blade (sharp edge towards his body) aimed down into the neck of the bottle and with the other hand, grasps the top of the bottle (we know where this is leading, right?). Sure enough, he slices open his hand. Blood everywhere. I asked him if he had a first aid kit… some bandages… anything… he says no. I told him that he’s got to find something to wrap it in… stop the bleeding. He reassures me that he has nothing. So I start throwing out suggestions: an old tie you don’t care about anymore? An old T-Shirt, a towel? Anything? He finally pulls out an old shirt. Ok, I tell him, but it’s just too much material, we have to cut it so we have a strip to use as bandage. So he picks up the knife…

With the blade pointed at his stomach, he starts to cut the shirt down the center. I was horrified… I kept thinking he was going to cut himself wide open right there in front of me. I gasped and started with a “what the hell…” but by then he had looked down and realized what he was about to do. He switched the blade around and cut the shirt. I helped him bandage up his hand, but based on the size and depth of the cut (and the sheer amount of blood), I told him that he should really go see a doctor. He refused. He said he’d glue it with superglue later if he needed to. Oh boy.

But the fun isn’t over yet!
We finally calm down and I show him the two movies that I brought. We make our choice and without hesitation, he opens the case… not opens the case, he RIPS the plastic insert sleeve clean off. It wasn’t an unopened DVD (which is what he had thought, apparently)… so now I get to bring back my roommate’s movie and it’s a big giant disaster.

I went on a few more dates with Dangerous Dave. There were more accidents that would occur over the course of our month or two worth of outings/dates. He fell down the stairs one day, glass in hand, shattered the glass and banged himself up pretty badly. His explanation as to what happened was that he was distracted by the clock just above the steps.

I finally ended it with Dave. Why? Not because he was super accident prone (despite all that he was fun, interesting, and way nice… super sweet to me), but because he was rather unstable in other ways. He called me one day, while I was having dinner with friends. I consider it rude to answer the phone when you’re at dinner with people. I figured I’d call him right back once we were finished. I believe I even stated that in a text immediately after his call went unanswered. That night, he was somehow so upset that he started saying that he was going to kill himself. Apparently, he'd OD'd on pain pills and was really losing it. At this point, I was already soured on a few other things that had begun to surface. As a mother, I decided that this is just not someone I need to be associating with.

In the end, I have no ill feelings against Dangerous Dave. I have mostly very fond memories of him. I still keep in touch, actually. He apparently got back with his ex-wife and moved back to Georgia. I’m sure he’s much happier now than when I knew him. So I’m happy that things have worked out for him.