Oh Hockey!
I met MVWD on Match.com, which I had been using for a few months with little luck. Turned out we were both correctional officers (me at a federal prison and he at a county jail) and he seemed excited to meet someone who understood the nature of the job and the shift work, as was I. He also played hockey in a local league, which I found interesting and fun.
We decided to meet up on a day we both had off from work. I drove 45 minutes to meet him, arriving at 7:30 p.m. I assumed we would be heading out for dinner and a walk around a popular shopping district (as we had planned), but he was fixated on the hockey game on tv. At the end of the second period (past 8 p.m. now), he grabbed his car keys and said “Let’s go.” Ok…so we got in his car and headed out into the chilly December night. After about 10 minutes I notice he never put on a coat when we left, and commented on this. He explained that he never wears coats, and doesn’t get cold. He also explained in great detail about the time he got frostbite on his toes as a child. Great.
He had just moved into the house I met him at, and stated he wasn’t familiar with that part of town yet, so we were going over to where he used to live. We drove for nearly 30 minutes before settling on a local chain restaurant, where he proceeded to inhale his meal all while keeping his eyes on the hockey game. When he did speak to me, the conversation consisted of hockey stories that had a “you had to be there” vibe or back-and-forth stories from our respective prisons. I finally told him I didn’t feel like talking about work anymore, which left us in complete silence. I was also tired of listening to his fake Canadian accent, which he claimed he picked up through his hockey travels. Really, you can pick up an accent by traveling to Canada twice a year for a weekend tournament?
When we got back to his place, he invited me in and showed me around, ending the tour in the bedroom. I stopped in the doorway and proclaimed some early-morning responsibility the next day, and let myself out. Guess he felt about the same as I did, because I never heard from him again.
