You know, when I work, I don't have a boss to work with, coworkers, fellow employees, etc. and I work long hours so, at the end of my day, I pretty much go home and collapse. Which doesn't leave a whole lot of time to develop much of a social life. So what's a girl to do? Well, I don't know about anyone else but this girl puts an ad in the "Strictly Platonic" section of Craig's List. I'd rather be at home with my boyfriend snuggling on the sofa watching a movie before bed but he's in Germany (which I hate) and he's going through a depression and he sometimes checks out of life for anywhere from one to three weeks at a time (which I hate times about a million) so, instead of sitting around at home being depressed because I'm alone, I say "screw it! there's a world out there and I'm going to experience it" whether he's ready to come along for the ride or not! Don't get me wrong - my first choice? Definitely would be to curl up with my sweetie. But if that's not an option then I'm not going to mope about it, no way!
Enter Craig's List. Now, when going on Craig's List for any reason, you have to be a little careful. Not necessarily because of rapists and murderers or whatever, although I'm well aware of THOSE stories, too. But CL can be a weird little place - their "Personals" section seems straightforward enough. It's broken down into categories such as the standard romance seeker categories and then even adds a few others: miscellaneous romance, casual encounters, missed connections and, of course, strictly platonic. Now, one would think that anyone with half a brain would understand the difference between "strictly platonic" and "casual encounters," but, evidently, I'm in the minority. WAY. In the minority. So I've developed a pretty clear cut ad that says something like this:
"Before I say anything, let me make this clear: I am NOT interested in romance, I am NOT interested in a hook-up, and I will NOT be your friend with benefits. I am looking for a friend to hang out with, not someone to discuss sex with. If you're looking for any of the aforementioned, move along, there's nothing here for you. If you're cool with the parameters I've set, keep reading!"
...and then I go on to describe that I'm just looking for new friends to discuss politics and art with, maybe talk about travel, European news, middle eastern culture, and so on. Every once in a while, I still get the occasional weirdo but mostly, I meet cool people who are excited that someone has actually said something so straightforward. Tonight was a dinner night with one such new friend. Thomas is happily married to a lovely woman from China. His wife and adorable daughter live in China while Thomas works here in the city. They're expecting their second baby in a few months - how cool is that??
Anyway, tonight, we went out for Thai and a movie - the food was outstanding (and really, how often do you get to go to a Thai restaurant with someone who actually speaks Thai? Awesomeness); we ate Pad Thai Chicken, Panang Beef, some sort of appetizer thing that was... well, uhm, I don't know what it was, really; it was some sort of rolled up little white thing that tasted slightly of pork and shrimp. You dip it in soy sauce and it's delicious! The Panang Beef was my favourite though. We had jasmine thai tea (very sweet) with our dinner and then a mango/sticky rice thing for dessert. Ooof, I'm *still* full but it was so good!
After that, we went to see the movie - I'd call it a dark comedy; very quirky but also extremely good! I love Ben Stiller, though, so it should come as no surprise that I enjoyed the movie. If you like more mainstream stuff, though, you might want to skip this one.
I'm (once again) completely exhausted but I'm in a great mood so it's all good! To bed for me and to work tomorrow - I feel like complaining but only because I have to work at all. To be honest, I have a terrific job and I love what I do! Right right... to bed for me; good night, whoever you are and sweet dreams!
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