Getting Acquainted

Moe called me on Saturday afternoon. I was afraid it would be kind of awkward at first, after all, we had just talked the night before, and I'm not very good on the telephone. I listen well, but I can never think of things to say. I shouldn't have worried. For someone who was supposed to be so shy, Moe had no problem keeping a conversation going.

He told me all about working at Sky Harbor Airport: how he had learned to be an airplane mechanic during the Vietnam War and how he now worked at the fuel farm for the airport itself and not for any particular airline, which meant he didn't get to fly for free, darn! I learned all about the celebrities whom he had met during his years at Sky Harbor, but not much about himself personally. It was OK, though. I was just glad he had called me.

“I can't believe it's three o'clock,” he said after we'd been talking for two hours. “I've got to get back to work or I won't be able to go home tonight.”

“I'm sorry,” I apologized.

“Oh, no, don't worry about it,” Moe laughed immediately. “I really wasn't busy, and it was fun talking to you. But now I'd better let you go. I'll see you next Friday.”

“OK,” I said, “and thanks for calling me. Don will be happy when I tell him, too.”

“Good,” Moe laughed. “I'll see you later.”

I hung up smiling, but just a little disappointed. I had been hoping he would ask me out. But maybe next week.

He didn't, of course, but we had fun visiting in the Temple, and Moe called and talked for a couple of hours the following Saturday, too. In fact, we seemed to settle into a pattern of seeing each other on Fridays, visiting on the phone on Saturdays, then waiting a whole week to do it all again. I was getting to know Moe, and I liked what I was learning, but I was also beginning to realize that he was the slowest man I had ever known.

Even slower than my little brother, Phillip. I used to get so mad at him when I had to walk home from school with him when we were kids. He would poke along, running a stick along the chain link fence or watching the horses run around the field next to the street, kicking rocks or sticks as he ambled along. It used to drive me crazy. Now Moe was doing the same thing. Ambling slowly along, getting acquainted with me. I guess I should have learned patience back when I was a kid so the Lord wouldn't still have to be trying to teach it to me.

In the meantime, the fellow Tammy wanted me to get to know was going as fast as he could. He came to the Temple every Friday night and talked to me while he ate dinner. Then he would go through a session and stop by to talk a little more after he was done. (Thank goodness his schedule put him in the cafeteria at different times than Moe.) Then he would call me every Wednesday night to talk, as well. He didn't tell me much about himself, he wanted to know all about me. Why did I keep my married name after I got divorced? What would I do when I got married again? Who owned the house we lived in with mom and dad? Where would I live after I got remarried? Would I want to have more children? All kinds of stuff that really made me uncomfortable.

I tried telling him about the great singles group in our stake, and encouraged him to get active in it once his divorce was final. He told me he really didn't want to get involved in singles stuff, or even date again. He just wanted to get his divorce over and get married again. Ouch! No wonder he made me nervous!

I really tried to be nice, but I was just not interested in him, or getting involved in any part of his life, even when his divorce was done. Finally I realized that being distant was not working. He really seemed to have his heart set on marrying me for whatever reason, although we didn't know each other at all, and my hints were not working. I knew I was going to have to just tell him I wasn't the one, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings, and I felt kind of conceited, like maybe I was assuming he liked me when he really didn't. On the other hand, I had to do something!

“I'm really sorry,” I finally told him one Friday evening while he hung around as I cleaned out the salad cart, “but I'm just not interested in having a relationship right now.”

“Oh, I know,” he answered calmly. “But my divorce will be final in another couple of months.”

“No, it's not just that,” I told him as nicely as I could. I didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying it was just him, but how could I explain it otherwise? Suddenly I just blurted out, “Really, there's someone else I'm interested in.”

“You're dating somebody else?” he asked in surprise. “But Tammy told me you didn't have a boy friend.”

“Well, we're not exactly going together,” I hesitated. I didn't want to lie, but I didn't want him to think I was going to change my mind, either. “We're kind of are just seeing each other right now. I'm really sorry, though. You're a nice guy and everything, but........., well, I'm just not available. You know?”

He got it that time. He said he was sorry, and good bye, and he left. Thank goodness. Now if only there was some way for me to get Moe to take the hint and actually ask me out on a date.