Here was a new problem: two Mr.’s in one state. I guess it was better than no date at all.
The day before, I had no one lined up. A farmer seemed to be a maybe, but I’d learned back in Illinois that a maybe wasn’t a yes. One of my friends texted her sister who sent out an all-points bulletin to all of her old friends from her days at KU. They came up with a man for me, and we made a date for dinner the next night. An hour later the farmer called and said he was available for lunch. Crap. I hated to say no. And I couldn’t exactly break the date with the guy I’d just made plans for dinner with since I’d been begging everyone I knew to find me someone. And so . . . I decided to have two dates, one for lunch and one for dinner.
I’d spent the night in a cheap hotel. I was exhausted and coming down with something. I had a cough and those all-over aches and I really just wanted to go to bed early instead of having to talk to someone that night. Plus, couchsurfing seemed to be much more popular on the east coast than it was in rural Kansas. My options were slim. The good news was I was well-rested but the bad news was I still wasn’t feeling great.
I don't want to give away everything, but I'll tell you this much: while my two dates were both Kansas natives, Mr. Kansas #2 had had a very different life experience than Mr. Kansas #1. Mr. Kansas #1 had wanted nothing more than to stay close to home and farm with his dad; Mr. Kansas #2 had toured the country playing in the minor leagues, then finished out his athletic career playing in Europe and Australia. Despite their differences, both guys had the same complaint about dating in Kansas: there were no women around!
Both were short dates but I drove away from both thinking again that a dating service should really be my next career move. Well, it wouldn’t be a job really; I just wanted to find good women for all of these good guys I was meeting. There really were good ones left out there; they were just in places most women weren’t looking.