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Stood Up!

Well, I had a lovely dinner on U Street last night at a place called Sula Thai. I had satay (chicken on a stick with a peanut dipping sauce) and pad thai. It was my first time having fresh, "real" pad thai, though my Little once made me some, and she's half Thai, so that counts for something.

I ate alone.

See, I called up a friend on Friday because I was going through some things. I told him "I need to see you." I hadn't seen him in months. We chat online every now and then but rarely on the phone. I keep our relationship at a certain level because...well, I'm attracted to him but he has a boyfriend.

I'm not a homewrecker, so I leave him be.

The things I was going through were something he could directly relate to, and I needed to talk to him, face to face, to sort through these things.

"I need to see you...."

"Um, okay, where is this coming from?"

"...." and with that I explained the importance of seeing him to talk about this.

Now I know some of you are thinking perhaps I wanted to see him because I'm attracted to him....it's not even like that. This thing I'm going through is so unique that only he could identify with it and he could give me some good advice.

Plus, he's my friend.

So he said sure, he'd see me. We decided to meet at Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street -- it was a reasonable location for me, the carless, and he agreed to come into the city. 5pm, we said.

I also had to work until 4pm, so that gave me time to get there. Well, turns out we were done before 4, so I was down there by 4:10. I walked about U Street and ended up buying me a juice from The Mocha Hut, which was very nice on the inside but had no free seats! EVERYBODY had a laptop (including me).....which kind of disappointed me for a few reasons. One, what if I had a date and wanted to eat? There were NO seats for two people....just lots of single people taking up all the damn space with their laptops and work. I dunno, I think that's a bit rude. Then, I mean if U Street is supposed to be part of this new cultural renaissance, there sure isn't a whole lot of...mingling. I dunno, it was quiet or somethin. In terms of atmopshere, Busboys and Poets had more hustle and bustle.

So I waited for a table outside to get freed up, after considering asking somebody if I could share their space. I really wanted to just sit down, sip my juice, and wait to go back to Ben's to meet my friend. I whipped out my laptop and started typing some notes for an upcomign project.

After a while, a dude with an Alpha Phi Omega lanyard keychain sat down at a table across from me and started talking to some dude. As I got up to leave, I said "Alpha Phi Omega?" and he was like "Oh no, these are just my friend's keys." And I was like "Oh, I see. Well, I'm your friend's brother. Have a good one."

I should tell you that my friend doesn't have a cell phone, which is important to why I got stood up.

So I'm at Ben's, I peep inside, don't see him, and I begin waiting around in front of the Lincoln Theater. I'm wearing my Batman t-shirt, partially because it's black and gold and partially because since I've lost a little weight this year, it fits a lot better than when I first bought it.

This guy who I assume is homeless saw my shirt and was like "Hey, Batman! Batman rocks!" and then he threw the universal "rock n roll" sign, which to some of you is the Sigma sign, lol.

I smiled and hoped that he didn't ask me for any change.

I waited ten minutes and called Shari.

"Shari, he ain't gonna come."

"No, he's not. Because he's a bastard. TEE HEE."

She and I are sarcastic like that. We laughed....I don't know what inside me didn't think he was coming, but I hoped he would prove me wrong.

Called my mom at 5:30.

"Mom, like, how long should I wait for somebody who's agreed to meet me for dinner but doesn't have a phone where I can reach him?"

"He hasn't called?"

"Naw."

"Well, wait fifteen more minutes, then go on about your business."

I knew she would say that. I also knew from watching Noah's Arc that I'd probably be kept waiting 45 minutes....alone...on my birthday. (LOL it's not really my birthday though)

So 45 minutes seemed fair. To be waiting on U Street for a friend who agreed to meet me to help me work through some things.

Obviously, I got stood up. I called Shari back and told her I was going to Sula Thai. And that's just what I did.

The food was good. I wasn't too depressed or anything, just disappointed. Very, very disappointed.

Thinking to myself only once or twice "Why does this always seem to happen to me?"

Stood the fuck up.

On the upside, I had some good Thai food and really really enjoyed being on U Street! Let me tell you -- that place is the black DuPont Circle. You can't tell me all those old black men walking in pairs weren't married! (To each other, that is.)

I feel like I got some looks from some of the younger dudes, too. Ones in their 20s or 30s. I was like whoa, you look straight than a mug, are you looking at little old moi?

I mean, nobody approached me, which is fine, but it was nice to be looked at, and to look back.

I haven't heard from my friend. I could assume a lot of things.... maybe he's sick, maybe his boyfriend is sick. Maybe he had car trouble. Maybe he lied to his boyfriend about where he was going and got hemmed up. Maybe the boyfriend doesn't trust him around me.

I don't know. All I know is that I needed somebody and they weren't there for me. All I can do is be disappointed, maybe even talk about it with him, and move on.

Oh yeah....remember my birthday dinner? He was a no show for that, too. Didn't even mention it until a month later.

....shame on me.

Posted by Rashid on September 24, 2006 9:21 AM

Comments

Commented by manchild1 on September 24, 2006 2:10 PM

Commented by Montre on September 25, 2006 10:49 AM