Stevie gets rejected, Part I

I wasn't going to write about this but I realized I'd already gone so far as to share some details about my personal dating experiences so I figured I should follow up on it. Unfortunately this entry might backtrack a bit on the optimism of my previous post, as my wound is still fairly fresh. Yes, last Saturday I decided to have "the talk" with a guy I had been dating for about two months. Seeing as how he turned out to be a complete asshole, I don't mind talking about it openly.

One of the negative aspects of having an ostomy is that I sometimes feel the need to date down. I'm sure even without it I would probably do this as a result of the normal insecurities of being a woman. But, I think I put my blinders on and date guys that have some major deficiency in their persona because I feel like this will make up for the fact that I have an ostomy. Like somehow they will overlook it because they know I'm otherwise too good for them.

But then I met said boy I mentioned in the first paragraph. All was going well for a while. I honestly didn't expect him to actually call me when I gave him my number because he was attractive, had ambition, and had a good personality. Usually I don't get all three. To my surprise we went out the first time and things went smoothly. He opened doors, paid for everything, and did a lot of talking about all the things he thought we would have fun doing together. So we went out again a week later and then started doing more lame things together more frequently; cooking, walking outside, etc etc.

Now last year I had gotten to this point with someone and then dropped the bomb on him that I needed to talk to him about something important. I more-so dropped the bomb via phone because I wanted to make sure I wouldn't chicken out and I would actually tell him. It wasn't exactly my idea way of doing it but I think it was okay because of what I was going through and how hard i knew it would be to initiate that conversation on my own. This particular boy decided that whatever "important" thing I had to talk to him about was too serious and I basically never spoke to him again even though he assured me we could talk about it soon. Blah. Whatever. Even though that was a fucked up thing to do, I am glad that in some way he recognized that whatever it is I had to say was too serious for what he expected out of our relationship.

Okay, so back to current boy (I am calling them all boys because they are certainly not men). So I made plans to meet up with him and drop the ostomy bomb. I was quite nervous all week but after realizing I was prepared to speak about it in the most positive, confident way, I knew there was no reason to worry. I just had to be honest. And I was. I was actually quite proud of myself, although it did feel quite like an out of body experience because I was way too composed for my normal nature. But after talking about it, he changed completely. At first I thought he was just shocked and didn't know what to say so I overlooked it. He was certainly sympathetic but something wasn't right. I was glad we had no plans to hang out for the rest of the night because honestly I just wanted him to be able to think about it and process everything without me there. I pretty much left the ball in his court and told him that regardless of how he felt, I just wanted him to feel comfortable telling me what he really thought, even if that meant he didn't want to date me anymore. When we left, he said he would call me the next day.

And that was the last I spoke to him. No phone call, no douche bag text message rejecting me. NOTHING. When I thought about it after I left him, the thought didn't cross my mind that I would never hear from him again. I knew there was a possibility he would have trouble grasping what I had said, but I still figured that our time together had been worth the decency and respect of a fucking phone call. I think that's the least someone deserves when they pour their heart out to you and share a huge piece of their life. He knew about my past with Crohn's and he overlooked that. Yet somehow he couldn't overlook the ostomy, nor feel like he needed to give some recognition of the emotions involved in opening up to him. What. An. Asshole.

I was certainly upset about it this week. I knew he wasn't someone I connected with on some ridiculous level and I wasn't ruined by the whole experience. But it certainly left me sad and wondering if my friends are all just lying to me when they tell me my ostomy "isn't a big deal". I mean I think about the fact that this boy couldn't even make any contact with me at all and I can't help but think it actually is a big deal, if just that knowledge alone was enough to make him never want to speak to me again. It has also forced me to question that I may have to settle for something less than I normally would deserve. Maybe I will never be able to have it all, because I have an ostomy. It's a sad thought to consider.

I think one more week of hearing the "fuck him if it's a big deal to him" encouragements from my friends and I'll be back on track. It just sucks to feel vulnerable. That's how I feel right now and I don't like it one bit.

Oh well, here's to the Phillies playing a good Sunday night game and the Flyers pulling their shit together and winning tomorrow night. Those are the only men I should focus on for a while. Happy May!