Day 356 Rare Breed

Did you know that gentlemen exist? Real gentlemen who open car doors to let a girl in and know what to order off a menu and how to pronounce entrees that have accented letters.

The restaurant is by the ocean, with a view that would be enjoyable if it wasn't so windy and choppy outside tonight. He's already been waiting for me to show up and I apologize for arriving later than our reservation. We can't sit outside, but the interior is shrouded in a dim amber and the waiters circulate on a regular basis to make sure every table's needs are seen. It's one of those really nice places where the waiter doesn't just recite the menu but actually knows what's worth getting off it as well and pass by to actually clean off the tables when they pick up our plates. 


"You need to let the man take the lead," He tells me and I don't protest because I've never had half of what he's just ordered for us. 

I can count on less than one hand on the number of times I've enjoyed fine dining, much less when someone else is doing the treating. I tell him so and he looks genuinely appalled that gentlemen are a dying breed. 


"They're not dead." I insist, "Just comatose."


Red wine isn't really my thing, but I take sips in between our carpaccio and tabbouleh while we talk over my sister's marriage, his sister's wedding, and his job interview earlier today that will hopefully cement his return to Miami. By the time our entrees arrive (his seafood paella and my Chilean seabass that he tells me is "the best" he's ever had) we've moved on to how frustrating it is to find someone with half a brain (God forbid they have one with both hemispheres intact!) and the slow realization of our current generation that our parents are gradually getting older to the point that it's a little worrisome to be away from them for too long. 

He tells me about his hopes that he can find someone to be his partner here in Miami and, as I sat there listening to him talk about his struggles with relationships, I realized that while the past year hasn't done much to squelch my libido, the idea of entering a loving, caring relationship with another person at this point just doesn't remotely appeal to me. Nonetheless, I wish him the best of luck on finding a girl that fits his criteria of intellect and maturity in a city ruled by chongas and skanks.