One Ticket for the Rick Train Please?

Ok, ok, ok, I've been a slacker, I'll admit it. June and July were pretty much a wash for me as I geared up for my first 1/2 marathon post injury in Seattle, WA. An amazing run and no injuries! I even saw a few people I knew on the course which makes me realize that this running thing I've stumbled upon is a very cool community to belong in. Feeling good about my performance, I boarded a jet plane back to Phoenix, AZ and ran into a bit of trouble a few days later. Sure no injuries but I apparently got a blood clot from the airplane. Really Karma? Really? You just make me want to run even more now you nerd. Long story short, not much on the dating scene to report until now....

Tall, blonde and handsome *Rick introduced himself (online) and we began to chat back and forth. He seemed to be a great guy, single, employed, all his teeth, basically all requirements I have in terms of what I was looking for. Soon we set up our first date - drinks at a local watering hole and talked for almost 3 hours. It was pretty relaxed...maybe too relaxed? What I found out that evening was that he isn't single, recently separated from his wife. It doesn't stop there, his profile indicated employment as "engineer" but in reality he's a mechanic (ok I'll let that one slide). He also apparently went through gastric bypass surgery and even though some time had gone by he still wasn't used to being what was "normal" for his height/weight proportions because he mentioned it several times awkwardly. I'm no Marilyn Monroe but really, I figured he was nervous so moving on...The reason why he and his wife separated? She didn't like his weight loss. Seemed like a silly reason for ending a marriage but hey, what do I know? Blonde? Not exactly, bald, he was blonde back in the day. He used to run with a wild crowd, an opposite of his big brother's profession as police officer and he's got the tattoos to prove it but overall didn't lead me to believe that was still part of his life. He asked me that night how I thought the date was going, I replied "Pretty good, at least you showed up". Yeah I told him about a few of the times I'd gotten stood up. He apologized on behalf of every man on the planet. Very funny, relaxed, enjoyable guy to be around. For a very big "sharing" first date, it went pretty well. We continued to chat on the phone, via text and email after that.

2nd date came around, dinner at local restaurant where we made friends with the bartender probably because Rick goes there alot? Either way it was a good meal, great conversation and entertainment by the guy at the end of the bar who refused to take his sunglasses off inside. Weird!  He said when I got back from my 1/2 marathon he expected that I go with him to the new Cars movie that was getting released. Well shoot, if I have to? :) I agreed and I kinda felt like I might have found a keeper? Then the first red flag, apparently he didn't go home after our date but over to a friends house and he and the friend were detained until late into the night because the friend had a warrant out for his arrest. Ok, he did tell me he used to hang out with a rough crowd....

Even when I was in Seattle for my run, Rick would text and see how I was doing so it was nice to know that its not me, there really are great guys out there.  Then...more red flags....

I got a blood clot. And he was going out of town for the following weekend so we made plans to go out on our movie date on the 4th of July. About an hour after he got back into town that day he text me he was wiped out and could we reschedule? Sure, I'm feeling secure so I don't think anything of it. The entire week long we chat and email and text but I noticed he didn't bring up the movie date again. Odd. After 4 weeks of communicating every day, I get a random text message from him to check my email when I got into work. His email:

Good morning,
 So i dont know how this all should go down but i want to be honest with you, I have met someone that i have been spending some time with, i would not say we are dating but i dont know. I do plan on seeing her more and dont think its fair to you not to say something. I dont think I am jumping back into a relationship anytime soon.... I just wanted you to know so as not to leave you hanging. I do think your a great person and would like to stay friends and see what happens in the future. ~ Rick

The classic, "I think you're great but I found someone even greater and I choose her over you...but can we still be friends? If it doesn't work out with the girl at least you'll still be my back-up plan".  Better believe it when I tell you I wrote a very intelligent, well written response back that will make him think twice about kicking a girl to the curb via email or other written communication. He did try to stay friends with me afterwards but I decided if the girl he is with really is better, its not fair to her to let him keep me in his life, it was after all 2 dates and 4 weeks of talking every day...not really much put into it right? *insert sarcastic tone here lol*


*Rick is not his real name, again, protecting the not so innocent.