FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER!

(re-run)

The gray stripe on my scalp was getting wider. It had been 14 weeks since I’d seen Janice at my last hair appointment. I took a photo of my hair and texted it to her.

“I miss you!” I said.

Janice texted back and said that she’d been sneaking people in the back door of the salon. Each hair dresser got one day alone to work. Everyone had to wear a mask.

I found out at today’s appointment that while I’ve been sitting at home alone, Janice has been in a whirlwind romance with a widower.

Let me tell you about widowers.  Four of my girlfriends are involved with them.

1. Tess got married a year ago to hers.
2. Nancy moved in and is engaged to hers.
3. Barbara has long-term plans with hers.
4. Laurie moved in with hers.
5. Cindy met hers online and started having socially-distanced dates: hiking, picnics, etc.

Back to my hairdresser:  while Janice put the color on my head, the story unfolded.  I heard about her Judge Judy case in L.A. that she won against a fellow dog park person with a biting dog. She said she’d met the widower at a pizza place right before she left for L.A., and he had scrawled his phone number on the pizza box she was taking home with her.

Long story short, her son threw away the box before Janice decided she would contact him. Let’s call him Dave.

A few weeks later, she ran into Dave at the grocery store. He had run out for more beer during a barbecue at his house.

“Come over right now!” he said.

Janice thought what the heck and went over.

They had their first date the day before California was shut down because of the virus. While the rest of us were dutifully sheltering in place, Janice and Dave were having picnics in the snowy woods while they watched the deer from the tailgate of his truck.

There were dinners and sleep-overs, sick dogs and a ruined birthday dinner (his, not hers).

He is still coming around. He is talking long-term stuff. Janice is scared to death. She’s been divorced for such a long time.

I gave her a pep talk and told her about my four girlfriends involved with widowers.

“He calls himself a nerd,” she said.

“Nerds are good,” I said.

“He has a limp,” she said, “so no dancing or hiking.”

“Oh.”

“But he’s funny!” she said. “We laugh a lot.”

“That’s good.”

“He over-steps,” she said.

“He’s hooked,” I said.

“it’s all so fast,” she said.

“Love in the time of Covid-19!” I said. “Lucky you!”

She talked it out. She is still on the fence.  She’s not sure she wants all the togetherness.

“You can still come down here and work a couple days a week and get a break,” I said.

“Yes, that’s true,” she said. “He’s not like the guys I usually date.”

“We’ve been with those guys,” I said.  “Look how that turned out.”

She still isn’t sure.

I am rooting for Dave, even though he has the same name as one of her ex-husbands and two of her long-term boyfriends.

As they always say, Janice, the fourth time’s a charm.