Don't Dish if You Can't Take

Submitted by Justin:

From the get-go, Beth teased me on our date.  She'd point at my shirt and say, "Hello 1980s," or say, "Nerd alert," when I told her that I was an engineer.

In short, she seemed like a lot of fun.  I rolled with it, and finally joined in with my own ribbing.  At one point, I told her that I almost failed math in seventh grade.  She hit back with, "My 10-year-old cousin's doing math at a seventh grade level.  I'm on a date with a guy who's dumber than my little cousin."

I said, "At least you're not sitting across from someone who can't even spell 'math.'"

She gasped and opened her eyes wide.  I thought she was still kidding around and I said, "Yeah.  That's right.  What?"

She started crying, right there in the restaurant.  I said, over and over, "Are you joking around?  Are you serious?"

After I had repeated this a few times, she shouted, "Yes, I'm serious!  You didn't have to say that!  Why did you have to say that?  Why?"

I reached across the table to comfort her, but she said, "Get away from me!"

It was such an overreaction that I had to ask her one more time, "Are you being serious, here?"

"Yes!" she screamed.

I wanted to leave instantly, but felt a certain sense of responsibility, so I stayed with her until dinner was over.  She let me hug her goodnight, and then we parted ways.