Coulda Been Polite -- Coulda Been Chemistry

Driving home from a date this evening, I pondered the nature of human attraction. She'd no doubt be horrified to read this, but I was not immediately attracted to my date this evening. She is tall, blonde, slender and conventionally attractive, but on first sight, I did not find her terribly appealing in the sense that makes me turn my head.

Now, go ahead, Imaginary Internet Women, think about bashing me...but wait to do so until I've finished.

My date was very easy to talk to, but that didn't stop us both from being a little nervous. I had met her outside her place of business, and we decided to walk the two blocks to a restaurant she had been wanting to try. It turned out to be a great choice for a casual first date, not too crowded and noisy, good service and really outstanding burgers.*

She asked about my blue rubber wristband, and I told her about my Make-a-Wish experience.

The conversation turned to her recent trip cross country, and it turned out that one of the places she'd visited was Wyoming. My parents now live in Wyoming, so we talked about what we like and dislike about it, and how beautiful it is in the Grand Tetons and around Jackson Hole. At some point, she mentioned that her main reason for visiting Wyoming was to see her neice, who lives in a little town she was sure I'd never heard of named Pinedale.

I actually have heard of Pinedale. I know people who live there. It's a long story, but the people I know there are the same people in my Make-a-Wish tale. Dear Imaginary Reader, Pinedale Wyoming is such a small town, there is absolutely no question that my date's neice knows my Make-a-Wish family.

Over the course of our dinner and the two-hour conversation that followed, a strange thing happened: I discovered that my date was beautiful. I don't mean that I slowly discovered that she's got the kind of personality that makes you forget physical faults, I mean that I realized that hey, she really is tall, blonde, blue-eyed, slender and yes, conventionally attractive...AND she's fun and funny and warm.

So on my way home, I pondered the nature of attraction. For years, I've been disappointed to hear those fateful and vague words from women I've dated: "No chemistry." Until tonight, I'd never understood what that meant...but I think I get it now. It's about connections. It's more than merely having things in common, chemistry transcends tastes and beliefs and common experiences. Chemistry is laughter and honesty and feeling no pressure at all. Chemistry is the discovery that the guy you've just met once helped make a wish come true for a seriously ill child, and then finding that the child lives in the same small town as your favorite neice.

Now, I have no idea if she felt Chemistry, but she felt comfortable enough to accept my offer of a ride home, she asked about the neighborhood I live in and if I thought we'd see each other again, and as she was walking toward her door, mouthed, "see you soon." Coulda been polite...coulda been Chemistry.

Do I want to see her again?

Of course. She's beautiful.

* I would have chosen a nice Italian restaurant I knew of close by, but she was jonesin' for a burger.