Well, that was...something
When one asks a woman "Do you want to go for a walk through Central Park and visit the Met[ropolitan museum of art]" and she says "That sounds good" one doesn't expect to hear "By the way, I don't like parks or art" within 5 minutes of her showing up. But I did. And I took it in stride and we walked, me enjoying the cherry blossoms and the clear spring sky, her commenting on the piles of garbage and the abandoned juicebox floating in the pond by Bethesda Fountain.
She liked those things.
I commented on her defensiveness. She threatened to leave. I told her not to make idle threats. She left.
15 minutes later she called me to complain that I didn't even care where she'd gone. We were in Central Park. It was 1:30 PM. She would have had to work pretty hard to find a dangerous area in 15 minutes. I asked her if she could find her way to the subway. She said yes.
I know that she wanted me to chase after her, but frankly if you pull that kind of bluff you have to think that the other person might call you on it. I'm not a good person to play games of emotional chicken with. I won't swerve.
I feel bad because in a lot of ways she was like I used to be not that long ago, and because I probably could have handled the situation better if I'd judged it more carefully. She also had a long journey to get to the park. On the other hand she was the one who chose to leave, and we weren't going to be compatible anyway, so it's probably for the best. I had an okay time and got to take a beautiful walk in the park.
So it goes.
She liked those things.
I commented on her defensiveness. She threatened to leave. I told her not to make idle threats. She left.
15 minutes later she called me to complain that I didn't even care where she'd gone. We were in Central Park. It was 1:30 PM. She would have had to work pretty hard to find a dangerous area in 15 minutes. I asked her if she could find her way to the subway. She said yes.
I know that she wanted me to chase after her, but frankly if you pull that kind of bluff you have to think that the other person might call you on it. I'm not a good person to play games of emotional chicken with. I won't swerve.
I feel bad because in a lot of ways she was like I used to be not that long ago, and because I probably could have handled the situation better if I'd judged it more carefully. She also had a long journey to get to the park. On the other hand she was the one who chose to leave, and we weren't going to be compatible anyway, so it's probably for the best. I had an okay time and got to take a beautiful walk in the park.
So it goes.