For a Good Time, Don't Call

Story Sent in by Jeffrey:

Claudia and I met online. Everything about our first series of interactions was storybook: she sounded very happy that I had contacted her, we shared lots of favorite films, and we grew up near each other. I asked her out to dinner.

At dinner, she passed me a piece of paper with a series of seven names and numbers on them. All guys' names.

"What's this?" I asked her.

"Guys I've dated," she said, "Just to be completely transparent with you."

"What?"

She gave me a look and asked, "You've never done this before?"

"Dating? Yes. A list of references? No."

She said, "They're not references. They're guys I've dated, in case you need to check on… anything."

"Like what? Why would I care who you've dated?"

She said, "I don't know. I figure that you might want to take a look and I don't know, get in touch…"

"Why would I do that?" I asked, pushing the paper back toward her. "I appreciate the thought but I'm not going to contact your exes."

"Suit yourself," she said, in a tone that sounded like she was genuinely surprised that I wasn't taking her up on it. "How about you?"

"How about me what?"

"Do you have anyone I… I don't know… should be contacting?"

"Nope."

"Oh."

There was an awkward minute of silence, and then I changed the subject. She didn't make much eye contact with me and stopped being a good conversationalist from then on. I think that I really disappointed her, or else made her think that I wasn't interested.

I tried one last time with, "I want to get to know you without having to call anyone else to find out about you. I figure you'd prefer that."

She said, "Fine. Whatever."

After the night was over, I sent her a quick email to let her know that I had a good time. She wrote back to say that she didn't feel any chemistry. I wonder if I'm to expect a call from one of her future dates.