Love + Sex

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Romantic Revelations Found in a Pack of Ramen Noodles

I recently met a girl from out of town and we engaged in a Facebook flirtation.

As it turned out, she was in town for New Year's; we ended up celebrating together and ended up at my apartment.

We fell asleep and kissed a bit. The next day I got a text from her:

"Boy you sure know how to resist temptation."

It turned out that I made the right decision.

She made a week-long visit to NYC a month later for Fashion Week, and I told her we could hang out that Saturday. Friday she was going to a party for a friend, and Saturday she had to be mellow because she was traveling Sunday, so I planned to take her to a wine bar.

That Friday, I came down with a cold but checked in anyway. The text conversation was as follows:

ME: "What time are you heading to the party?"

HER: "Around 11."

ME: "Not feeling well, but will try to make it out."

Keep in mind, I didn't get any "hope you feel better," or "don't worry, let's just hang out Saturday" texts. After I waited (what must have been too long) a while to assess my ability to go out and drink, I got the following text from her:

"Where are you? Hurry up."

OK (record scratch). A handful of people in my life are allowed to make demands like that: basically my close friends and family. I had not committed to meeting her on Friday night either. I finally shut it down by texting:

"Too sick, I can't make it out."


She eventually texted, around 2AM: "Well I'm sick too, so I can still makeout with you."

At this point, I decided to just have her over. I still intended to see her on Saturday as well because I had made that promise.

I texted her my address and she said she'd be over after one last drink.

Ramen

http://triberefugees.ning.com/

Then a strange thing happened: a pack of chicken flavor Ramen noodles revealed the truth to me.

I began making Ramen and frantically stood over the water, trying to will it to boil. I felt the pressure of her invading army, hunting me down to ruin my Ramen experience. If she showed up before I finished eating my Ramen, I would be crushed. All I wanted was to be alone with my Ramen and a really bad '80's movie that I'd find by trolling TNT-type channels. I guess I wasn't that into her after all.

Unbeknownst to me, meanwhile, her phone battery died, so she didn't have a way to refer to my address. She eventually called and we agreed to get in touch Saturday to hang out. Everything seemed fine, but perhaps the following statement I made rubbed her the wrong way:

"OK, so I'll give you a call, but you call me if I forget."

Any way I look at that statement it doesn't seem very nice. I guess I was just showing her I wasn't too interested anymore. But I still intended to make an effort to see her Saturday, because I had promised...

...until I innocently logged in to Facebook the next day. To my surprise, she had taken the liberty to skewer me on her Facebook status:

"All guys are jerks, screw them all."

I really didn't think I had been that much a jerk, considering I had promised Saturday, and still checked in on Friday-and I was legitimately sick that night.

So, that was the boiling (Ramen) point. I didn't call her on Saturday.

There was no communication between us for the next few weeks. Just when I figured everyone had moved on I got a message from her on Facebook.

Early in our flirtation, she had given me a contact so I could help a friend of mine secure an internship. Her message read:

"You know that contact I gave you? Don't use it."

I thought that was kind of petty, and a little low class, but I took the high road:

"No worries, my friend got an internship, I didn't use it. Hope all is well!"

If a girl acts with class after things don't work out, a guy will question his decision much more than if she behaves strangely. Every one of her actions since the "fallout" has made me think: "thank goodness I didn't do more than kiss her that night, and she keeps confirming that I made the right decision."

Do you think I behaved badly in this situation? Do you agree that it's best to just walk away when something doesn't work out, instead of getting vindictive? Am I leading women on when I see them and contact them just to be nice, without being sure of how I feel?


Posted by Rich


Related from Marie Claire:

How to Spot Your Soul Mate
Diary of a Hook Up From heck
5 Ways You're Sabotaging Your Relationship
50 Cheap Date Ideas
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From the Community…

Comments 1-10 of 45
  • Jess's Avatar
    Posted by Jess Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:45am PDT

    Looks to me like she was just looking for some action and was upset when she didn't get it. I don't see how this situation could have been handled any better.

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  • mommaofsun's Avatar
    Posted by mommaofsun Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:54am PDT

    I think you did good. That situation seems a little nutty!! Hope you enjoyed your noodles. :)

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  • Eliza's Avatar
    Posted by Eliza Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:04am PDT

    I don't think you behaved badly, but she definitely did. I do agree that it is always best to take the high road. In the past, I would have reacted emotionally like she did, but now I just keep it moving. I don't contact a man who has dumped me for ANY REASON. I want him to always wonder if he made the right decision. Indifference is much colder than hate. All she did by dissing you on Facebook and texting you about the internship was reinforce in your mind that you made the right decision.

    As a sidenote, I am really starting to hate texting and social networking sites. It makes dating so much more complicated and confusing. People don't really communicate effectively anymore.

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  • None's Avatar
    Posted by None Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:14am PDT

    To me, you sounded like a total jerk! First you are all into her, then reply with stupid comments like maybe I will call you, oh, I am sick, in the world of men and women, it is excuses, ya you could be really busy, but still it seems very strange that just from finally meeting her you already have excuses. I don't think there is anything wrong that you held out! Bravo for that! But as a woman, we believe all men think with their manhood, therefore that was already a flag to her, then the whole other situations, so next time, just be straight please, and tell it like it is. Games are fun when two people are into each other, but if there is no chance in hell, just say it.

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  • None's Avatar
    Posted by None Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:16am PDT

    Say it upfront, I take things slow, we are only friends right now. That's what I did with a guy from highschool that recently came out. So we have it on the table. She was wrong for smearing your name right away, cuz she doesn't know you.

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  • Betni's Avatar
    Posted by Betni Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:44am PDT

    Yeah...I'd hit you with the Jerk penalty. Even if you weren't feeling well you never truly communicated that. You used text messaging (that and email are completely unacceptable) for 90% of you "conversation". Pick up the phone and call. Having a voice that reflects emotion adds clarity. I agree that at first you seemed into her then all the sudden weren't. Lastly telling her to call you incase you forget, to a woman that's pretty much saying "I'm going to forget because you don't matter enough for the effort to remember." It' almost ranks up there with sleeping with a girl then emailing her after she leaves to say it just won't work for you.

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  • Erika's Avatar
    Posted by Erika Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:48am PDT

    that girl sounds like an a---- , and you didnt seem like a jerk in your story.

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  • joseph's Avatar
    Posted by joseph Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:58am PDT

    haha i dont think thats right 1st off if a girl is all over me i would take her offer. but then there is a risk to that wat if she had a disease? then u r screwed. Dat was cool that u didnt give in to her games. Bravo

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  • Juliette Rousseau's Avatar
    Posted by Juliette Rousseau Tue Mar 17, 2009 11:21am PDT

    Huh, and I figured only teenagers still resorted to petty text/Facebook wars. Guess I was wrong about that. In the end, I think you both screwed up in this incident--while she was overreacting and smearing you all over her Facebook, I don't think it was appropriate to say, "Call me in case I forget." 'Cuz as Betni says, it's like saying you don't care enough about her to make her a priority. Maybe in the end you really didn't care enough, but don't say it in her face like that. If you find her petty, don't imitate her.

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  • springtime's Avatar
    Posted by springtime Tue Mar 17, 2009 11:39am PDT

    Come on, now. You didn't really say this..."OK, so I'll give you a call, but you call me if I forget." Aren't you Don Juan?

    Top Ramen? Nothing but salty water.

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Comments 1-10 of 45

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