Bama Part II

K... so fast forward to about June/July last year. Took the 1st LSAT and started my last semester. Bama pops up again, "what are you doing? what are you doing? what are you doing"... intro to "Do you maybe wanna do something w/me?" We hung out, it was cool... somewhere he was a bit squishy... and perfect (or at least perfect acting) until about my B-day.

There is a post on this from August. He stood me up. Fast forward a few months (I honestly don't remember how long) and he tells me about having a g/f and breaking up with her. Fast forward to December (approximately) and he begins to show up and show off. And then lots of talking to my voicemail.

This was not precursor to relationship. He popped up 2x and then went away. I remember thinking nothing was going to come of it, because there was something about him that "didn't make me want to put him in my pocket and take him with me". So the reason he is focus of so many current posts is because he is an interesting case study. After all, we are (or I am) students of human behavior and human nature. Plus he is harmless. There is no way this could hurt me. Right?

So he is late to circuit training last night and stretches with me, and laments he got blown off on Friday (He asked me to do something... I had "plans" which I did!). We talk for a sec. He explains his issue. I am blown away he had enough material to have issues with. But nonetheless here we go...

At some given point we (he and I) drank at a bar and ran into people from an English class I took a million years ago. Our final project was a presentation/report/creating a lecture centered around a book of our choosing. The parameters being a work of "fiction", and the author being female. I chose Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies". The piece was a short story about an Americanized Indian couple that still chose the arranged marriage and were figuring out it did not work for them and contemplated a divorce. Her writing was some of the 1st I could relate to, thus it was easy to explain.

I know you are thinking, wow- it must have been challenging and rewarding to explain so much of your culture and present it to a huge group of people who are ignorant of such things, furthering their understanding of other cultures. .... Or I have been asked to explain this so much, I pretty much have it down- I can do it in my sleep and that was my A.

But the class responded well to it, I got my A, and apparently they remembered it. Because that was the topic of conversation. and as Bama is Caucasian, they were sure it was not a "date". I don't remember he and I having a discussion about it afterwards. We went somewhere else after.

Fast forward a bit to Yeeeeahhh Mexican (July post) and apparently that night there was an Indian family having dinner there as well. We sort of notice they are staring. It is a tad uncomfortable. He plays it off well- but asked if I thought the family thought we were on a "date". I said probably not... Indian girls don't date. Even if you are dating someone, your family ignores it until there is a ring involved. He asked about meeting my parents and I think I said something to the effect of- probably not. The only thing I remember being different about that night was that when I said goodnight in the parking lot, he was extra clingy and didn't want to say goodnight- at least not there.

My memory is not perfect and these things are the gist of it. However it was done, he played it off well. Because here comes his issue... at the end of the day, he did not think that I would turn my back on my culture. He did not think I would take him seriously, and that I would consider marrying outside of my culture.

He considered himself pushed off of my roller coaster before I actually pushed him. Whoa.

But then Bat-girl weighs in... and says "so... he's been chasing you for a year, just not enough to break a sweat?"
David's Bunny's assessment "run. those issues are legit, but he didn't ask if they were YOUR issues or if you could get over it. It's not going to get any better from here."

and all of this raises some real issues. but I don't have it in me to spit it just now.

Blessings for finishing Part II.