It's really funny and confusing being back in the world again. Specifically, I mean among the singles again. It's been a really long time since I was single, and actually considered myself to be single. But here I am again. My radar is a little screwed up, a little rusty. I don't catch on right away when a guy is hitting on me or being flirty.. I usually catch on about ten minutes after the fact..
On my block alone, there are two guys who are recently single. One that just separated from his wife about three or four months ago, and the other's wife left him just a couple of weeks ago.
The one that separated from his wife, has been working on his rental property- two houses up from my house. He's been out there all spring and summer long. Renovating, building a new garage, making the place look fresh and new. I assumed he was getting ready to sell the property. Apparently he's getting ready to move in, and rent out the upstairs apartment.
On Halloween, I was sitting on my stoop with one my boys, giving out candy. He took this opportunity to come over and (re) introduce himself to me. "Hey, I know we've met before, but I don't know if you remember me. I'm Joe. . I'll be moving in here in a few weeks, and I just wanted to say hey..." - - -"yeah, my wife and I are splitting up... so I'll be moving in.. . . so, ya know, if ya ever need anything... Judy? right?" funny. I think that maybe I was supposed to start a conversation and small talk or something... but I'm out of practice. I think I said, "yeah, you're Marge's grandson, right?" and then I probably went back to giving out candy and/or dealing with my kids again. So then there was that moment of awkward silence. To which he said, "ok, well, I just wanted to say hi to ya, and let you know I'm right there. . so ya know, if you ever need anything, you can always stop in or whatever... sooo... ok, see ya.."
I think it took me a day or two to register that he was trying to get my attention.. Like I said, rusty.
The other guy has lived across the street for a few years in a rental. Very nice guy. Always helpful with all the neighbors. When it's time to dig and plow, and help carry grocery bags, he's always been the go to guy. He seems to show up out of the blue whenever I unpacked the car. And then, out of the blue, a few weeks ago, his wife took off.
Like clockwork, he got his opportunity to come over. I was cleaning out my car one day, and using a car vacuum that plugs into the cigarette lighter. Like a dummy, I didn't think to leave the car running while I used the vacuum. So I killed the battery. Not a big deal. I pulled my Dad's pickup down to the street and hooked up the cables..... while I sat on the rock outside the house, watching my truck take a charge, Steve came jogging over. "Hey, ya need a hand?" Me: Nah, I just killed my battery with the vacuum like a dumbass, I just needed a jump." So he hung out with me while I let the electricity do it's magic and we chatted. He told me a story about when he was in highschool. He was telling me that he and his buddies would check out where the pretty girls parked their cars during school, and they'd go out and turn the lights on their cars so that their batteries would die, and then he and his buddies could swoop in and "fix" their cars... VERY FUNNY to me... anyway, he followed up this story by saying, "ah, I didn't get here in time to rescue the pretty girl today!"
huh... about an hour or two later I caught it. That's fine. I'm not looking to get involved with any of these newly single guys on my block... at all. BUT, it's a good wake up call that I'm still alive.. and apparently I'm not the only one aware of, well, me.
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