Beauty Mark*

Trying to keep up with this thing sometimes feels like I'm always a day behind.  Then I look at the date I last published something, and realize I'm weeks behind.  Anyway, inspiration for these posts come from all over, and this comes from Grindr.  First, the background for those who don't know.  Grindr is an app for your phone that uses GPS to show you where other local gay guys are.  I have been monkeying around with it for some time and haven't quite figured its logic, but for the most part it shows the guys closest to you and you  can message them.  It's anyone's guess if they will respond, but sometimes they do.  And sometimes it leads to interesting outcomes.  The last thing I will say, by way of introduction is that apps like this have been featured on Law and Order SVU, but it usually is because someone has been killed...or worse.  So far, that hasn't happened to me!

Last Tuesday night, I sent a message to someone on Grindr who's look was....interesting.  I was at Grand Central a little later than normal, and Mark* was passing through on his way home, north of the City.  Once a conversation begins, it doesn't end just because the other person has moved further away...I once started a conversation with someone who was visiting NYC from Madrid...yes, Spain.  When he answered, he had left the City and had returned home.  But, I digress.  As his  train moved north, Mark and I continued talking.  He agreed that two days later, when I was working again, and opening the store, he would stop by and say Hi.  Thursday morning, bright and early, I opened the store and waited.  And waited.  Turns out he was running late, but he did, true to his word, stop and say hi.  He was a cute kid, twenty years old, and his interesting look was not a one-time thing.  He had grey hair (intentionally...I told him he would be wishing it away in not-too-many years) that was styled in five pointy spikes on top and in the front .  Because he was running late, and I got off work around the same time he got out of school, we decided to meet later that afternoon.

I met Mark in SoHo.  He had left school and was walking toward me on the street, and I must say, he was not hard to miss.  The temperature last week was negative frigid, so we ducked into a Starbucks and got a cup of coffee and talked.  I, as I am wont to do, spilled it.  By 6:00 he knew I had been married, had used controlled substances, and had filed bankruptcy.  I like to leave the domestic violence charge for the second date.  If they can handle the big three, DV should be nothing.  He told me things about himself, too, when I took a breath.  After all that, he said he was hungry and could we get something to eat.  We did. <>  We stumbled on a small burger joint called SoHo Park.  It almost felt park-like with twinkling Christmas lights, a glass atrium, and trees.  At one end was a fake fireplace that was putting out enough heat to be real.  We asked to sit next to it.  We each ordered a burger, fries, and a Coke, and continued talking.  Good food..You should go there when you visit NYC.  If you can find it! <>

After dinner, we decided we wanted to continue talking, but since it was 12 degrees, we would need to find a place indoors to hang out.  We chose Barnes and Noble at Union Square.  We each picked a book and found a seat.  We talked a bit, hung out a bit, listened to people around us a bit (that's free entertainment anywhere you go), and flipped through our books a bit.  We finally decided to call it a night and go home.  The following night we met up again, but only briefly for a bite at McDonald's and then home.

Four days later, we met again.  This time was supposed to be some more time to hang out and get to know each other, but Mark had had some other things come up, so we didn't get to hang out as long as I would have liked.  In the time we did have, he brought up some concerns, which were valid, but the thing that cut me most deeply, was that Mark said, "You don't excite me"  Me?? Unexciting??  Woooo!  My status update on Facebook that night was "I'd say today was a productive day.  I paid three times the normal price for broccoli, was called 'unexciting' by someone I've been hanging out with, and got a free cup of coffee at Au Bon Pain just for asking."  The internet erupted in support.  I am, it's confirmed, not unexciting.

To gloss over the ending (up to now) is to say that Mark and I have talked, and we will continue to hang out.  He will put his phone away, and I will crank up the excitement.  With the warm weather coming, there will be lots of exciting and free things to do.  He will see.  The very least I expect from this is a new friend (more Christmas gifts!)  The most?  The sky's the limit.

There are as many stories from Grindr as there are people on it.  Some are not rated for this family-friendly storybook.  The ones that are, you will read.  Soon.

*Name was changed to protect the involved party.