Monday, June 12, 2006

My Texas Date

This is a funny story, but a true one. About 7 years ago I bought a computer. I went into the chatrooms and discovered a whole new world. I was quite addicted to it for a while. I would rush home from work to get online and in the chatroom. As a matter of fact my ceiling fan broke one night while I was online and one of the blades flew off....I never stopped typing...I just looked at it and was happy it didnt hit me! Thats how addicted I was!

Anyway, in this chatroom I met a lot of people, kinda like you do in Blogland. You have never met the person but you form friendships. This one guy started talking to me, he was from Texas and his nickname online was George Strait. Of course when you see that nickname you get visions of George Strait in your head. He sent me his picture and I could see that he was no George Strait but he was nice and he was funny.After about 3 months he wanted my phone number...so of course me being the dummy I am I gave it to him. He started calling me. We talked every night on the phone, he would call as soon as I got home from work.

We had talked for about 5 months when he said one night..." hey Im coming to see you!". He had a friend who was coming to my state and he was coming with him to meet me. I figured we had talked long enough to meet each other and it might be fun. He was going to be here for 4 days.

On the appointed day, he came. Right off the bat he tried to kiss me.....that put me off. I told him not to push me. I made his bed on the couch and informed him THAT is where he would be sleeping! After we got that out of the way, we got along better. He wanted to go to the Hall of Fame and we went and had a good time. We went to the boatclub and went out to eat on the river. We had fun. We went to a dance one night with friends of mine and had drinks, he got drunk but we were all drinking having a good time so I didnt pay that much attention.

When he left he talked about me coming to Texas. I had never flown before and I was terrified of flying. So I told him I would think about it. When he got back to Texas he still called every night. He was getting more serious. He talked about us getting married....I said ..whooaaa, these things take time.


The whole time I was thinking...you are such a chicken...you cant fly...there were so many times I had missed out on doing things because I wouldnt fly. Overcoming that fear would be such a milestone for me. And I knew he had come to see me, it was only fair that I go see him at least once to see if I felt this relationship was going to be anything. But mostly, I felt like if I could fly...I could do anything!

Sooooo, he came to visit again. This time he bought me a diamond ring. He thought we were engaged. I thought we were friends with a higher grade friendship ring. I dont know what I was thinking. Anyway, he was here for 4 more days or 5 , I cant remember now. he said it wasnt fair that I had never come to see where he lived and all that jazz. So after he had been gone a couple months I made arrangements to fly to Texas.

We talked nightly on the phone and I can remember asking him several times if he had been drinking, because he sounded a little slurry. He assured me that he was just tired , he had had a long day at work.

Meanwhile I was having nightmares about flying! I just didnt know how I was going to get on an airplane and fly to Texas. I was afraid I would have a giant panic attack. So I went to my family Doctor and told him of my predicament...he gave me xanax. A mild dose....to be taken before I flew.

The morning I was to fly out I was a nervous wreck. I took the xanax. My son took me to the airport. I got on the plane....looking all around it...and popped another xanax. And then.......I was flying!!! And it wasnt so bad! When I landed in Texas 2 hours later I was very relaxed. George Strait picked me up at the airport. I was so happy with myself that I flew!!

On the way to his apartment we stopped at the grocery store and he asked me what I wanted to get to eat.....we got some pineapple and bagels. When we got to his apartment and he showed me around, and it was decorated very tastefully. I was putting the pineapple in the refrigerator and I noticed there was no food in it.....only beer! Well, I just figured we were eating all our meals out. I did see 2 frozen dinners in the freezer.

That evening at dinnertime he said " lets stay in and eat"..I said..." you have no food". he said..."yes I do, I have 2 frozen dinners in the freezer". I thought..."well maybe hes tired"...and of course all this time he is drinking beer! I mean beer after beer. So we ate the crappy frozen dinners and watched some tv. I was tired from getting up so early that day and the stress of flying so I went to bed, he stayed up drinking.

The next morning he had to go to work. I slept in, got up and ate some pineapple and a bagel....since that was all he had to eat! lol. In the afternoon I got on his computer just for something to do. What I found in his email box was email from a girl in Texas so I read it. I could tell he has seen this girl from her email. So I called him at work and told him what I discovered. He came right home, tried to lie out of it but I was ready to leave Texas. Then he started his drinking again. I knew then that he had a drinking problem, no food in his refrigerator made perfect sense .

I had a girlfriend that I grew up with over in Oklahoma. I called her and told her I wanted to leave immediately. She made arrangements for me to fly to Oklahoma that night. I had no idea how to get to the airport since I was flying out of Love Airport and I flew into Dallas-Ft Worth airport.. He was too drunk to take me to the airport so I called a cab. By the time the cab driver got there I had my luggage on the porch and was crying I was so upset. The cab driver was loading my luggage and I was screaming at George Strait that I never wanted to see him again. The cab driver ask me if he hit me...lol...I said no...just get me out of Texas! I cried ( or I should say boo hoo'd) all the way to the airport, I told the cab driver I had no idea where to go in the airport, this was my first trip to Texas.....he told me not to worry , he would take me where I needed to go.....I cried all the way. When we got there he took me right where I needed to go and we gave them my confirmation number. The desk clerk at the airport said they were going to put me in a room where I could have some privacy since I was so upset ( still crying).

I was sitting in the room by myself, still crying but starting to settle down, and a man came in pushing his wife in a wheelchair. I wasnt paying any attention to them, still crying, and the lady said to me " honey are you ok?" I said " I will be as soon as I get out of Texas". She started talking to me and I was telling her the story about how I came to visit my boyfriend and he had nothing to eat and he was a drunk and we got to laughing about it.....by the time we got on the plane we were old friends. They were the nicest people.

When I landed in Oklahoma I was all smiles. I got off the plane and my girlfriend Barb said "are you ok?" I said.." hell yea, Im out of Texas and away from George Strait!".

This is one of the things I did while going through the menopause...lol. Thats my story and Im stickin to it.

So that was my Texas date......now I can laugh about it. He emailed me about 6 months after it all happened and wanted to know if we could talk...lol....I said " yea, when pigs fly." I just chalk it up to experience. The good thing is Im not afraid to fly anymore. I have since flown to Florida. So if nothing else it got me over my fear of flying. Oh and 1 more thing....I still have the ring! LoL

20 comments:

L said...

Some Texas date you had there, the only good things to come out of it was of course the ring and you conquered your fear of flying.

Bluepaintred said...

well congrats on teh flying thing... u r braver then me

congrats on the not getting raped and murdered thing... thats a bonus


are you gonna pawn the ring LOL


online dating and meeting someone is not a very safe thing.. im glad that your experiance wasnt so bad... but you know... im paranoid and stuff

Catch said...

Lori:getting over the fear of flying was like a million bucks to me!

Paint: I dont date on the internet anymore...I dont even chat anymore...as far as the ring, it is in my jewelry box..I dont even wear it! lol

kristi said...

Hey at least you still have the ring. At the time you must have been terrified but now you can look back and have a good laugh.

Catch said...

Kristi: I dont remember being terrified......just furious...lol

Louisiana said...

what a horrible experience..and how scary and that is coming from someone who met her Joe on yahoo personals...i was always terrified of all the online chats and stuff. totally not my comfort zone and he has said the same about him too since but we both tried it anyways and out of all the people i met, it was Joe who from moment one who felt wonderful. we chosed to meet and the rest is history. But we are both aware that we are the exception to the rule for sure. We always hear of the most horrible of experiences.
It is actually funny as for years we always lived and played in around the same areas but never met until online..I'm glad you are alright now. And that you conquer flying...hugs.

Pendullum said...

Ohhh... What a sad scary story...
I loved that you had a network of people looking out for you. George Strait... gave you a taste of what true humanity is out there... from your true friend in Oakland, to the cabbie, to the sweet couple in the lounge...
I guess I am thinking how strong you were to get help...

Joe & Karen said...

You are so amazing Catch... Way to go... isn't is incredible, in such a horrible situation, who comes into your life, to really show you the good in somethings, to help you find your strength within to get through. Such as Joe and I have found. Have a wonderful day, relish in your spirit, you rock.

:P fuzzbox said...

Texas has just as many buttheads as any other place. I hope you weren't put off of the whole state. Their are some good folks here. I am not one of them but they are here.

What bothers me about this guy's fridge isn't the beer, it's the tv dinners. No one should eat that crap.

Phats said...

haha that was a fun story, thanks for sharing, i was fascincated!

Have you listened to george strait ever again?? I love to fly myself.

R said...

Ur link

Anonymous said...

What a story. First of all I am glad the guy wasn't a worse nut than he already was. I am glad you overcame your fear of flying. It sounds like one of those exrepiences we all need to go thru just to learn more about ourselves. And hey, you still have that ring!;)

Catch said...

Chana: there are good people and bad people...you are lucky! You got a good one!

pendullum: I have loads of good people in my life...and I am very thankful for every one of them!

Karen: I looked at it as one of lifes many adventures!

Honey: I only kept the diamond to piss him off..lol

Fuzz: your sooo right...no one should eat tv dinners...yuck. And I think you are one of those good people in Texas....

Phats: I thought it was a fun story too after the fact....all my friends back home wanted to hear the whole story when I returned and when I would tell it we all would crack up!!!

Rawad: you my dear boy are a genious!

Mimi: Its just one of those experiences that you grow from.They kind of make your life more interesting and fun! And your right...now I can fly!

Mom on the Run said...

you know what this says to me? It says that strangers in Texas are the nicest people! Look what the cab driver did for you! And those people in the airport!
That is a great story! I'm very sad he wasn't the George Strait you thought he was, cause George would never do that to a lady!

Catch said...

lol..you are sooo right Mommy....George Strait would NEVER do that to a lady! And I knew there were nice people in Texas...I just had to find them to help me get to the airport! lol

Dr.John said...

I think you deserve the ring. When I first went on the internet I decided to stay out of chat rooms so I have no chat room experience. Almost everybody's experience taht I read is weird or horrible so I'm glad I didn't start. Of course you did get over your fear of flying and had some pineapple.

Phats said...

I added you to my links if you object you better speak now or forever hold your peace.

You'll get the proper welcome in my next entry, i bet you're giddy with anticipation

Joe & Karen said...

HI Catch, My appt. for the tattoo isn't untill July 24... I can't wait (its worth it to have it done by Kathy) You can bet that there will be pictures that night. I didn't know you had one, what is it of? I'm not having such a good day, Trying to figure out what I want to do in my life, not having much luck... I miss Jack. Getting my tattoo will be very helpful.

Gary said...

That is a fascinating story. I am from Texas, so I hope you don't hold all of us Texans responsible for that. Not all Texans are drunks, although it may seem that way sometimes, especially on the freeways. :)

Catch said...

Dr John: thank you...and you were smart to stay out of the chatrooms!

Phats: Thank you..I am honored!

Karen: I am sending you giant hugs!!! Hope tomorrow is better!

Gary: I do not hold it against all Texans...just George Strait!!!! LoL