shudder

Happy birthday to my dad! He's already beat the odds and gotten a hole-in-one twice, but I wish him another one just for his birthday! Once again, I would love to be home celebrating with the family, but, the busy cycle at work kicked off yesterday, so I'm basically tethered to my artificially lit little cubicle unless I'm at home sleeping, in class, or on my way to or from one of those two places.

Speaking of commuting, wmata was tough on me yesterday. I had to stop by the cardiologist's office on the way to work (yes, cardiologist. yes, I'm awfully young to be saying that word. yes, that story is to come). The cardiologist is, in fact, on the way to work, but, I ended up waiting 15 minutes for a train, which then sat in the station for 10 minutes before carrying on towards Arlington. Not exactly how I was planning to start my Monday, but at least it was a good excuse to buy a pick-me-up in the form of a fancy cappuccino this morning. 

My favorite wmata-related thing that happened yesterday, though, was easily being asked out by an old man. {Note: "old" in this case means over double my age. I realize my parents are that age, and I don't think of them as old. However, when it comes to being asked out, anything more than 10 to 15 years plus my age is "old."} 

Anyways, I was minding my own business, listening to music, rushing to class, and then it went something like this:

Old Man: "How are you today?"

Me: maybe if I ignore this person, he will think I didn't hear him {then, I made the fatal error of glancing in his direction}

Old Man: "I said 'how are you today?'...{I hesitantly remove one earbud} oh, are you talking on the phone?" 

Me: {then I made my next fatal error by being honest} "oh, no, music"

Old Man: "where are you headed?"

Me: this is how an episode of "Criminal Minds" starts, right? maybe if I tell him I'm going to class, he'll realize I am WAY TOO YOUNG for him. "I'm headed to class"

Old Man: {obviously undeterred} "oh where do you go, GU?"

{Interlude of me talking extremely vaguely about where my campus is, despite his probing questions, then the train pulls up}

Old Man: "do you mind if I join you?"

Me: do I have a choice? is this a bar? no, it's a metro. get on the train, you idiot, and let's just get where we're going, which, hopefully is NOT the same place.

{Interlude of me making obvious attempts to talk about ANYTHING but myself. See: "Criminal Minds" reference. I got on a pretty great tangent about the new Rush+ thing on metro and how it was ruining my life. Train rolls in to a station where, praise the heavens, the old man is disembarking} 

Old Man: "so could I interest you in lunch some time?"

Me: {fatalist error of them all} "maybe"

I wrote my work number on his metro card {apparently I at least had the presence of mind not to give him my personal number}, and off he went. Once the metro doors firmly shut behind him, I immediately started wondering a) why I'm incapable of either being honest and saying "heck no you creeper" or lying and saying "well, my boyfriend wouldn't like that very much," b) if I'd just met a serial killer, or just a late fifties dude who really likes younger girls. {And I shudder to think just how young he likes them, since I was just hit on by a middle schooler a couple days ago, which goes to show that I don't exactly look my age} 

So yeah, if I go missing, it was a silver-y haired man in his fifties who was wearing a jetblue pilot's uniform and toting a wheely suitcase. I don't remember his eye color, because I was avoiding eye contact like my life depended on it. I think I need to stop watching so much tv. And being so nice to strangers.