You're Kid-ding Me

Story Sent in by Brad:

In our first messages back and forth, Sarah strongly hinted that she didn't like or want kids. I didn't ask for any details, and we met up for a first date in a local park in the middle of town.

A little less than a minute after our introductions, she scanned the park and pointed at a mother wheeling a baby carriage, too far away to hear us.

"Ugh. That really pisses me off."

I asked her, "What does?"

"That," she said, "A mom parading her stupid baby around like a trophy."

I replied, "I think she's just taking a walk. I don't know if she's parading."

"She is, but whatever," she said, and we continued on. It struck me as way over the top that she'd be so antagonistic about kids, but maybe that was just how she was. I hoped that she wasn't saying it to obtain some sort of reaction out of me.

Anyway, we went to lunch and I suggested that we take a walk in a different park afterward, one with a lake.

Once we arrived in our separate cars, I noted with slight discomfort (for Sarah's sake) that its small beach area was populated with a lot of swimming, screaming kids. However, there was a nature path that led around the whole lake, away from most of the people.

I turned to Sarah to ask her if she wanted to hit up the path, and I noticed her grinding her teeth. I asked, "What's wrong?"

She said, "What's wrong is all these kids. Why can't we just send them back where they came from?"

"Ouch!" I joked, but she was in no mood for laughter. I said, "Why don't we just walk to the path? I can see it from here, and then we can leave all of this behind us."

She cringed and wrinkled her face, as if I had asked her to eat a dozen live, squirming cockroaches at once. I took her gently by the hand, led her through the crowd, and we made it safely to the path. She booked it ahead of me, and when I caught up, she mumbled, "Well, this day's ruined."

We didn't say a word to each other the entire time, and when we finally made it all the way around, she stopped walking, turned to me, and said, "Yeah, so… bye," and she left.

She wrote me an email which I received that night. She wrote two paragraphs about how she didn't think we were a good match, and how inconsiderate I was to bring her to places where kids were, especially being that she was someone who didn't want kids of her own.

I wrote her back to inform her that I didn't want kids either, but at least that I wasn't a complete jerk about it. She didn't reply.