My friend promised me that the guy she wanted to set me up with was amazing. Since I’d been single for six months, I figured it wouldn’t be a bad thing to get back on the dating scene a bit, so I agreed to meet him at a quiet restaurant for dinner. Big mistake—he was a lunatic!
- Things seemed to be going pretty well at first. We had loads in common and he made me laugh from the second I sat down. Best of all, it wasn’t that kind of obnoxious humor that men sometimes put on just to come across as the Funny Guy—he was genuinely hilarious. I didn’t even care that I was laughing out loud in a public place because we were having such a great time.
- I left my phone on the table throughout the meal. I always do that—I like to know where my phone is at all times. However, I was having such a good time that halfway into the lively chatting and delicious meal, I lost track of where my phone was. I only realized I didn’t have it with me when I excused myself to go to the bathroom. It didn’t seem like an important detail at the time, but I was about to see that it was.
- I was hoping to text my friend from the bathroom. I wanted to tell her how great the guy was and that I was having an amazing time with him but since I’d left my phone on the table, that was a no-go. No big deal, I thought—the guy will keep it for me until I get back. I touched up my makeup and headed back to the table. That’s when I caught him.
- He was texting… but he wasn’t using his own phone to do it. He was actually using my phone. Only, wait—he wasn’t texting, he was scrolling. OMG, the guy was going through my phone! What the hell?
- I confronted him and he had nothing to say for himself. I wanted to run away back to the bathroom, but I knew that would be silly. Hello, the guy was snooping through my phone! I had to do something, so I asked him what he was doing. His face went bright red and he put the phone on the table like it was a snake that had bitten him. He started shaking his head and raised his hands.
- He apologized profusely and lied to my face. He said he was really sorry and he didn’t mean to use my phone, but he had wanted to text his friend from it because his phone wasn’t working. I didn’t buy it. If he was that desperate to use my phone, couldn’t he have waited five minutes for me to get back from the bathroom? Come on! It’s not like he was in an emergency situation.
- The evidence spoke for itself. I looked at my phone and it was my photo album that was on show. Wow. He’d clearly been going through my pictures, but when I brought this up, he swore I’d gotten it wrong. OK, so why was it up on the screen then, loser?
- What else had he been looking at? I felt my skin crawl at the thought of this guy sneaking through my personal stuff. What else had he seen? Had he gone through my Facebook or Twitter? Had he looked through my private messages? Ugh. I was so disgusted.
- He insisted that I was overreacting. So I busted the guy for snooping and what did he do? He told me that I was being dramatic and needed to get a grip. He insisted that it wasn’t a biggie, he just needed my phone and I shouldn’t judge people so harshly. He added that clearly I was a bitter man-hater. WTF?
- My blood started to boil—I was furious. He was the bad guy, not me. I refused to take any blame for the situation at all. I had every right to be angry at him for looking through my phone and I didn’t feel I was being dramatic. In fact, I told him that if he wanted to see a dramatic woman, then he was about to. Then I stormed out of the restaurant, leaving him to pay for the check. It served him right.
- My friend was shocked—I bet she’ll never try to set me up again. When I told her about this guy’s behavior, she couldn’t believe it was the same guy. It just goes to show that a guy can be a great friend but a totally creepy potential boyfriend. I’m so done with dating setups—never again!
