The dating pool has TURDS in it in Journey Back to ME

Last weekend my kids and I went to my moms to celebrate my sons 5th Birthday. We went to Boo at the Zoo where the kids get to trick-or-treat at the zoo in their costumes. We went out for lunch at a pizza buffet (my sons FAVORITE), and then later on, I snuck out and got decorations and cupcakes and balloons..etc. My mom lives in an apartment complex, and my grandma is her neighbor…so my mom and the kids were over at my grandma’s (my kids didn’t know that they were there in order for me to decorate for my sons surprise).

I had to make a few trips back and forth to my car. On the way to my moms apartment with my sons balloons, someone shouts out to me “Happy Birthday”. It was a man on a balcony, and I smiled and said thanks and kept walking. I came back out another time to get my sons gifts out of the trunk, and this time the man was downstairs and outside. He asked my name, and I told him. He asked me if I have a Facebook which I thought was strange. I said yes. He told me that I was very beautiful, and some other stuff. I was on a mission, so I told him that I needed to grab something from my car quickly and that I’d be right back. When I came back up the sidewalk, he was standing in the middle of the sidewalk. There were some kids outside playing, and I asked if any of them belonged to him. He pointed out a boy with long hair. They’re Native American. This man had beautiful long hair as well…and everyone knows I’m a sucker for long hair. So he just kept smiling and saying how beautiful and gorgeous I am. I’m not exaggerating. At this point it was a little overboard and weird, but hey I’ve heard on more than one occasion that it’s okay for someone to like you more than you like them. LOL, but the way he was acting like I was some model off the catwalk was overwhelming. I finally just asked him if he wanted my number. He said “Are you foreal? You’d give it to me?” LOL. So then he gets all weird about how he doesn’t know how to use his phone or where to go to save my number. He was saying it was due to being flustered and nervous because I was talking to him. He said he’s 35. I think he said he has 2 kids. I told him that I do as well. In the meantime, he still wasn’t to a point to take my number down, so I suggested that he just dial my number and save it later. He said “I’ll text you right now”.

So my mom knows nearly everyone in that apartment complex, and this person lives so close to her I wanted to talk to her about him. So I describe the situation, the man, and the location of his apartment…and she says…”That’s Ashley’s husband!” She was able to describe the kid I saw, the man, she said they have a 2 year old…

HE HAS A WHOLE WIFE AND STOOD OUTSIDE TO GET MY NUMBER WITH HIS SON RIGHT THERE PLAYING!

Like WTF is this world coming to?! And get this, he never did text my phone which made everything make COMPLETE sense since he wanted to find me on Facebook first! Because that way he could be more sneaky versus actually saving my number in his phone that I’m sure his wife has access to. And it gets better. My mom said that HE DOESN’T EVEN WORK! She works, and pays the bills and he’s a bum!

NEXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXT! I don’t know who Ashley is, but I hope my mom lets her know that she needs to let her piece of shit man go!

Fast forward to yesterday after work. I went to the grocery store on the hunt of a good veggie burger because we were having burgers for dinner. Anyway, I walk in and grab a cart from the entryway, a man gestures for me to go in front of him and I said “thank you” and walked in. Did I notice that he was handsome? Yes. Did I care? No. Because to be honest, at this point I am not LOOKING. Everyone is a red flag, so I was just minding my own business. He catches up to me, and asks me where I’m from which I thought was a weird question because…where else would I be from? I mean, I wasn’t born here in this city nor did I grow up in this state, but how does one answer that question? (Side note: I had someone ask me that before years ago and he meant where in Africa was I from, and I’m not from Africa…so that was awkward.) Anyway, he asked my name. I told him. He asked if I had a snapchat or any other social media…this immediately gave me a “he’s too young” vibe because I’m of the elder Millenial generation who is no longer advancing with the technology nor do I want to. My LAST social media was instagram, and I haven’t used that in MONTHS. I use Facebook as us elder Millenials tend to…but I don’t TWEET and I don’t SNAP or TIKTOK or whatever…and even my Facebook is locked down to the absolute minimum of people that I care to see my photos lol. Anyway, I asked if he wanted my number. He took it down, and said he’d text me right then....He did.

The conversation has been pretty lack luster so far. He asked for a picture of my for my contact in his phone, so I sent one of my face from one of my walks. It’s cute, but it’s not suggestive because I’m not trying to give out any vibes where someone might be misconstrued that I just want someone to use me for sex and then disappear. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt! SEVERAL TIMES! So then I ask for a picture of him for mine. To be honest, I never ask anyone for something like that, but I felt like it was only fair for me to ask him to do the same. He sent 2 pictures of him laying down, and one video that showed his chest tattoos as if I had asked. RED FLAG! Anyway I’m not going to go into every small detail of our text conversation this far, but I will tell you what he said he does for a living.

“I make music and I rent cars in Los Angeles. I also promote content and vend marijuana in Los Angeles.” EYE ROLL---- SIDE EYE---- EYE ROLL SOME MORE....

Like dude…why are you in Kansas?

He did have a response to that as well because I did ask. He said. ” I came here to play college ball, but when I got here, I realized the cost of living is way cheaper. I plan on investing in multi family homes and renting them out to pay for my lifestyle when I decide to move back to Los Angeles.”

EYE ROLL AGAIN

This was what really pushed me to ask his age because this definitely sounds like some pipe dream/ get rich quick scheme/ “I don’t have a real job” Gen Z social media influencer bullshit.

He’s 29 by the way.

I did tell him about my having 2 kids. I was testing to see if it would scare him away. It hasn’t yet…he also hasn’t quite caught or lost my attention yet. This isn’t even one of those situations where I have butterflies or anything. Good looks alone mean absolutely nothing to me anymore. He at least replies with several sentences and not just one word responses.