Thanks for reading and responding, John McElhenney.

Writing about my dating foibles has been an interesting endeavor. Regarding your particular response, the jump from my wanting a “spark” (not a forest fire or fireworks or tsunami…just a spark) jumped to “rockstar” (your words). That’s quite a leap!

I’m not sure why you went from my wanting some level of attraction (which feels universal and like the vast majority of people would want in a potential romantic interest) to putting a much bigger emphasis. But your response combined with some of the other comments has sparked (bad pun time!) a story that is now percolating.

My writing tends to be direct and matter of fact. I was being rather literal when I agreed to meet those guys: you never know until you meet someone in person if there will be a connection or spark. That was why I agreed to meet them. Instinctively I suspected that there was not going to be much attraction on my part with the hipster coffee guy date, but I have had one or two exceptions over my many years of dating. So if I’m on the fence and the guy puts in some effort to meet me (and treats me in a respectful manner), I’m happy to meet up and see if we have any chemistry!

Furthermore, I thought I was going to hit it off with the Brit. I was really excited to meet him, which is why I worked so hard to accommodate his busy schedule. That one was a real disappointment. C’est la vie.

In any case, thank you for sharing your thoughts and providing some material for a future story! And thank you for your respectful tone — I appreciate it!

Best of luck with the dating world of Austin!