Linda

I am nothing if not persistent

OK that's one guy. There are millions of them out there. Am I asking for the moon? Just somebody smart and funny and kind and gorgeous. Is that so hard to find? Let's see. Not him, not him, not him, not him, not him. Suddenly a man with black hair and blue eyes filled her screen. Linda was a sucker for black hair and blue eyes. He was Russian. "Russian men are so sexy" she thought. She looked at his picture closely, read his statistics. He didn't seem like an ax murderer. Linda wondered how many men used someone else's picture. This guy seemed too good to be true. "I will regret it if I don't take the next step" she thought "Who cares if he's not the most stimulating conversationalist, if his bank account leaves a lot to be desired? He's gorgeous" Linda made a date with him. She dressed and did her make up very carefully. She wanted to impress him. She didn't really expect him to look like his picture. But he did. And his body! Lean, muscled, what was he doing on a dating site? Linda felt like she won the lottery. And he chewed with his mouth closed. Was there nothing wrong with this guy? Then the check came. Russian Guy glanced at it.

"Let's split the check" he said.

"Actually your meal was more expensive than mine." she replied "and I think it would be a nice gesture if you offered to pay."

"Why should I" he challenged her.

"Well women still make 70 cents for every dollar a man makes. So it would be a contribution toward righting that injustice. Also, my presence here is a gift" he said.

"A gift? How is it a gift?"

"I have complimented you. I have not criticized you. I have listened to you talk about yourself. We have only talked about you. You haven't asked me a single question about myself." she countered."

"Give me a break," he said" women have it so much easier than men."

"On what planet?" she asked, "men still have 90 per cent of the power financially, politically and in every other way. 95 per cent of CEOs are men. The laws of our country are biased toward men. For most of our history women couldn't vote, own property or have any rights over their own children. It was legal to beat your wife. Women were little better than slaves."

"You women kill me." he said "always whining, always with your hand out. You want more money? Get off your a*s and get a job."

I just realized something" she said "I just realized that you are not a nice person."

And she got up and walked out. Leaving him to pay the check. She got into her car and sat there thinking. Well that was a fiacasco. Were all handsome men idiots? Linda didn't know enough handsome men to make a comparison. She vowed not to pick a man because of his looks again. "Am I asking for the moon?" she wondered. She didn't feel like trying again. A nice quiet life with Tim. Was that so terrible? A lot of women were worse off than her. "The hell with a nice quiet life" she thought "I want passion. I want excitement. It's only two guys. There is somebody out there for me." Linda vowed to try again.