Never Except Strangers on Facebook and Other Important Lessons...

I won't Deny that I am an optimist and believe in fate, so hey the man of my dreams could pick me out on Facebook and start writing to me, right?!  I am usually a pretty private person so make it a habit of never adding strangers to my facebook, but if we have a few friends in common I may just add you to be nice. My FBboyfriend first added me a few weeks ago. He was very mysterious. No pics and only about 40 friends, but they all looked pretty normal and we had a couple friends in common. So I was polite and sent a nice email asking if we had met since he had no photo but I could see we had some distant friends in common from my college days. He explained that he didn't have photos up yet as it was a new facebook, of course, and that he was in New York on business and did not have access to photos, but that he did in fact know one of my friends. He stated that he needed to create a new FB page in order to avoid his TWO stalkers...this should have been a flag...but okay. I questioned the girl we knew in common and she thought he was a guy that she had gone to high school with but he clearly wasn't and we both decided to delete his sketchy profile from our accepted friends lists.

My FBboyfriend was persistent and asked why I had deleted him, so  I explained that my page was personal and private and that his seemed sketchy. He then added a photo and said he didn't want to be sketchy.  To my amazement this new boyfriend was HOT. What had I done!? I deleted this hot guy who obviously wanted to get to know me. So after exchanging a few flirty emails I deemed it okay to re-friend him. Our email exchanges continued and were funny. He was a New Yorker turned sports agent who now lived in LA. Our personalities seemed to "click" and eventually the sneaky devil got into my cell phone. Our emails became texting and I officially had a FBBoyfriend.  I have to admit this was very out of character for me but all very mysterious and intriguing. I was hooked. FBboyfriend invited me to a highly sought after Celtics/Lakers playoff game. I was excited. The only catch, the game was in Boston. Normally, I would not accept to go across the country with someone I had never met but thought, "Hey I'm from Boston, worst case he is a killer and all my family and friends are there to escape". I agreed to travel to the game but we decided it may be a good idea to meet in person first.

MEETING MY FBBOYFRIEND LIVE...how exciting. This mystery would be ending. FBboyfriend and I decided to meet in the middle. I thought he should drive to me, but since he would be treating me to a trip across the country I could meet him half way. We met in Brentwood and I hopped into his car. He was cute in person. We drove to a tiny dive bar down the street. My FBboyfriend had warned me that he was shorter than me...I just hadn't pictured by how much. Guy had to be a foot shorter than me, I'm 5'8". But hey, again, personality can mean a lot, I don't discriminate. He was funny and we went into the bar and had a couple drinks and talked. The conversation flowed and he seemed pretty normal and sweet. We were having a good time and the bar was getting more and more crowded. He asked if I wanted to go somewhere else so I agreed. I have to admit it was pretty funny seeing him try to get the bartender's attention from where he stood. Upon getting back into his car he asked if I felt like just going to his place a few blocks away. Hey, I thought we had met in the middle, but that's besides the point.  I hesitated because I don't think its really appropriate for someone to take you to their home on the first meeting. He convinced me that he had a full bar and we could just talk there and it would all be PG. "Don't you trust me?" he asked. SO, I agreed. He told me he also had another apartment that he was subletting in Bev. Hills. His Santa Monica place looked old, dirty and like a dorm. He had a guy roommate and a soap-scummy bathroom.  I'm being harsh here but this was not what I was expecting. I guess I am used to dating older guys and for me living in a clean/nice environment is really important. The artwork in his room, I'm not exaggerating, was a family guy framed poster, a painted dolphin scene, you know the one, and an abstract painting that was tolerable. He also had a collection of joker figurines. His full bar consisted of a bottle of tequila and some margarita mix that he pulled out of his closet. I asked why he stored liquor in the closet and he simply explained that his roommate's best friend was an alcoholic.
FBboyfriend poured me a strong Margarita in a plastic cup.  I didn't realize until later that he was drinking water. We put on some Dave Matthews, which we both enjoy, and were talking. None of the absurdities that I have previously mentioned really were enough of a red flag to send me running. So I was just taking this all in. Maybe because he was moving and only had lived there 6 months, maybe that's why he lived like this. I tend to make excuses, try not to judge....and hey these are Lakers/Celtics tickets, a free trip home and possibly the man of my dreams...with a little work.

Okay, so I was a little buzzed at this point. We are chatting listening to DMB in his dormroom...err I mean bedroom. This was when the night turned for the worst! FBboyfriend was staring at my feet and asked me if I had ever done a trade. "A trade like for what?" I asked. In some words FBboyfriend asked if I would wear shoes if he bought them for me. Like these hot red stilettos he had seen. I said uhh... I guess. He asked if a guy had ever taken me shopping. I said no. He said he wanted to take me shopping....he just wanted to show me how to do something...a 30 second something... it would be a great trick for me to know and then I could have his credit card to go on a shopping spree..."OMG!!!! I am not a prostitute. I am a classy girl!"  I wanted to tell him that from the looks of things he needed to use his credit card to get a housekeeper, but I refrained. This blind date was officially dead. How do I end up in these situations? I should of ran a long time ago!

There is no such a thing as "benefit of a doubt" in dating!

Lessons learned:
Don't add strangers on Facebook
Don't ever trust a guys that says "Trust me" or "You are going to like me"
If a guy wants to buy you shoes...there is an ulterior motive!