Monday, March 15, 2010

The Accidental Cougar

So... I maaaaaaay have had a date a couple of weeks ago with a boy. A young boy. A boy who was about 7 years old when I started college.

Ooops.

(And, as you can probably guess by the fact that I'm writing about him... I'm not worried about karma coming back to me on this one. Because while he is absolutely adorable, he's also most certainly not the Future Mr. Always a Bridesmaid.)

It all started quite innocently when I went out to dinner with an old friend. Because Mo and I don't get together all that often, we tend to stay out for hours when we do meet up.

And we did.

At one point in the nite while I was in the ladies' room, our server (who was adorable, BTW) approached our table and asked my friend what my story was, and whether she thought I'd go out with him. They conspired to have him leave a note for me when he brought us our bill.

And he did.

(It said something like, "It was a pleasure meeting you. We should grab a drink. The Cub. 555-TOO-YUNG." But, you know. With his real name and number.)

So, I called The Cub a few days later (and had to leave a message). And, of course, what did he do back? TEXT. Because all guys love texting, but the apparently the young ones ESPECIALLY do.

This back-and-forth communication went on for a few weeks, until our schedules finally matched and we could meet for a drink.

And we did.

After chatting for about 20 minutes, it suddenly occurred to me (based on the content of our conversation) that this kid seemed really young.

(Until this point, I had no idea how old he was. But, he knew my friend and I were in our early 30s from our dinner outing weeks earlier, so I assumed he was in the same general age range.)

So I asked, "How old are you?"

He replied, "Old enough." (With a sneaky little dimpled grin to boot!)

I immediately knew that his response meant I was probably approaching cougar territory. When I probed further, I discovered that he was ELEVEN YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME. Eleven. That he graduated from high school the same year I was celebrating my fifth anniversary at my second job. (And that he graduated from college the same year I celebrated my 10th anniversary at that same job.)

We had a good laugh about it. He even later commented about how he was with the hottest woman in the bar, and that he kind of liked that I was older.

But I know myself too well. If the maturity level of most 30-year-old men frightens me, I knew I couldn't deal with a boy who was a whole seven years younger THAN THAT.

(P.S. Did I mention that he still lives at home? And that doesn't really have any intentions of getting a full-time job any time soon? Yeah.)

And so went my date with The Cub. And my first foray into almost-cougardom.

Have you ever dated a (much) younger man?

8 comments:

Amy Green @ Sweet Home Amy said...

Omg, that's hilarious!! I love that he said "old enough". NICE. Glad you had some fun. :)

Girl in Carolina said...

Girl! We are leading the same life right now! HAHA I am seeing a guy 10 years younger. And so far so good. And I nicknamed him the Cub too! LOL! I'm just having fun with it :) You should too!

Lincoln said...

"Because all guys love texting, but the apparently the young ones ESPECIALLY do."

I take exception to that! I freaking hate texting. Either pick up the phone or send me an email, but don't half-ass BOTH methods of communication with a text.

Anyway... FWIW, don't put much stock in chronolgical age. I'm so effing tired of the maturity/have-none-of-their-shit-together level of women "my age". I own a house, have a steady job with a decent income, am reasonably well traveled [domestically, at least], have no outstanding warrants or debt [except my mortgage]... And happen to be 25.

If everyhing else is clicking [though it sounds like it wasn't in your case], why should that last part matter?

Sorry for that little tirade, guess I'm being a little passive agressive this Monday.

MG said...

hahaha. I went through a phase like that at his age.

Why he told you lives at home and has no plans of getting a real job though is beyond me. Was that a nascent attempt at honesty and intimacy? or did he think he'd be all Brando ala the Wild One and he'd tell it like it is and you'd eat it up?

Did you ask or did he voluntarily just tell you that?

p.s. either many women love to text as much as guys or they just go with it sans complaints, cuz it seems like the preferred flirtation medium for this generation on BOTH sides.

Always a Bridesmaid said...

Amy -- you should have seen his face when he said it too. LOL.

Carolina Girl -- OMG! Twins!

Lincoln -- you're right, I shouldn't judge based solely on age. And I should have pointed out that it was more about the fact that he still lives at home and doesn't have any semblance of a career than his age. BTW, nice work on the no texting. :)

Cashier said...

New reader here. Love your blog.

The youngest I've ever dated was 5 years younger than me. And even then I felt out of place around him and his friends.

Narm said...

My gf is actually 4 years older than me. I don't notice the difference often - except when making references to things I did as a kid / teenager. I'll mention a show I watched and she'll say, "Oh yeah, I used to have to watch that when I babysat."

Liiiiiiiiitle awkward

Suburban Sweetheart said...

I may or may not have a crush on my best friend's younger brother, who's five years younger than me... ack.