Empty Space

Story Sent in by Jen:

It used to be common practice for me to write back to any guy who wrote to me over a dating site, even if it was to decline interest. Reid was an interesting guy and we wrote back and forth several times a day. He was a podiatrist whose hobby it was to make different kinds of lemonades: blueberry lemonade, raspberry lemonade, and so on. He had plans to start a small business with them.

Anyway we had our first date at a coffee shop. It went fine, although he seemed a bit aloof and uninterested. Based on that, I wasn't expecting a second date but he surprised me and asked me out to a county fair. Everyone has off days, so maybe the second date would be different.

After we played each other in skee ball, he told me about some new lemonades he was brewing. They all sounded good.

Then he asked me, "Are you, by any chance, menstruating?"

That stopped me in my tracks. "No... why do you ask?"

He said, "Because I've found that women who are menstruating usually have more sensitive taste buds. More of the flavor of my lemonades comes out, for them. I'd like to find a way to make a woman menstruate right before she tastes my lemonade."

I laughed. I had to! But he said, "I'm serious. This can make the difference between a successful new product and being just like all the other lemonades on the market."

I said, "I don't think you can make a woman menstruate just to enjoy the taste of your lemonade. Sorry."

He pointed to his head and said, "Watch this space."

That was the end of our talk about it, and the rest of the date was fun but also pretty awkward.

When he wrote me in the future, it wasn't to ask me out again but to request that I let him know when I was menstruating so that he could test his new lemonade recipe on me. He was sure to mention in the emails, "I'll have to charge you for it but believe me: you've never tasted lemonade like this."

Whatever, buddy. I'll take your word for it.