Manufactured Weekend Drama

I hear or see these phrases all the time....

• Save the drama for yo' Mama!
• Not looking for folks on BS and drama.
• The only drama I look for is on the shelf at Blockbuster's.

Okay. Fine. I sorta made up that last one. I'm sure variations of that one are floating around, though.

The thing is...most of us say that we hate drama. Yet there's that part of us that deep down inside craves it. Maybe even creates it? At least I think it applies to me.

Case in point...these last few days I've been chatting with two different guys. Guy A, "Winifred", we've chatted a couple weeks before but everytime we try to meet up, different circumstances either with him or myself come up. I'd be working a little bit later than expected. He'd have his own work-related issue come up. So that's "Winifred".

Then there's "Aaron". We had a couple of amazing conversations over the phone and seemed to really hit it off. Hell, we stayed up till 3AM Saturday night watching "Girlfriends" on BET (over the phone). And three of the four episodes were post-Season 3, which for the most part were mostly sucky, IMHO. And I was actually laughing during the show. You can also tell it's post-Season 3 because Reggie Hayes, who plays William, picked up at least 25 pounds since the show's conception. But that's way off-topic.

So Hemingway, Aaron and I were trying to make plans to meet. Friday night was a no-go because he was hanging with a friend. Saturday was a no-go because I had arranged to meet with Winifred Saturday afternoon. Can you believe I actually told Aaron I had a date Saturday? Talk about creating drama.

Of course, I cringed after saying that. But you know, I created the problem myself.

I heard Aaron make this off-putting sound when I said that. His voice said 'okay' but his mind probably was going 'you skank ass hoe'. Although why people assume when you're on a date you're getting sex is beyond me. (It's not always true.) Heh.

And do you think the drama ended there? As Whitney "McCrackney" Houston would say...."Hell to the NAW!!!"

Early Saturday afternoon comes and I get am IM from the cool Philybred himself. I met him over a month ago and enjoyed hanging out with him in his neck of the woods. Hammond, IN. So anyway, he tells me that he's having a BB-Q and I'm more than welcome to come.

I'm thinking. Free food, plus it'd be cool to hang again. So I tell Philybred that I'll meet him later in the afternoon.

But wait a minute. Didn't I have a date with Winifred that afternoon? Umm, yeah.

I actually had some errands to run in the Southwest burbs that day as well, which would've put me half way to Hammond. I get a phone call from Winifred. He mentions that he has a friend coming into town around 7PM at O'Hare. (He lives about an hour from there.) He wasn't sure if we should still meet or not. I smiled. He actually gave me a way out. I told him that we could always reschedule to next week sometime. He asked if I was sure or not and I said that'd be fine. We hung up.

As I stepped outside to head into the garage, I thought I was in the clear. But then he called two minutes later. A normal person, trying to avoid drama, would've let it go to voicemail. But not me. I immediately picked up. He suggested we meet for an hour at the mall and then he can go pick up his friend. I debated on whether to say anything or not but at the time didn't. I told him okay and after I run my errand, I'll give him a call.

So I'm off running my errand and I'm thinking, you know, I'd rather hang out at the BB-Q. I finally get the nerve to call Winifred. I half-lied and told him that I met a friend while running my errand and we're heading to dinner.

Yeah I know. I'm bad. (Well karma's a bitch...as I found out the next day!)

Hemingway I enjoyed myself at Philybred's and met another friend of his. The three of us wound up watching Fight Club, which I've never seen, and OMG, the movie was the bomb. It seemed stupid at first but I really got into it and didn't see the climatic point coming. We all then watched some Chinese Kung-Fu spoof, which was actually pretty darn funny as well. Then after an enjoyable evening watching movies, I went home.

Aaron emailed me later that evening and then we chatted on the phone. He did confess to being put off by my admitting to a date, though please, I'm sure when I was blown off in the past, it was because they had a better date. And yeah, two wrongs don't make a right. (Ack! Leave me alone...*LOL*) Besides I already had the plans Saturday before I even worked on making some with Aaron. That led to our three-hour chat, culminating with the whole "Girlfriends" marathon I alluded to earlier in my thread. Sometime during our chat, we toyed around with meeting Sunday afternoon.

So we get to Sunday morning (Well technically I was already there...*LOL*) You know, the day karma bit me in the ass! It started out pleasant enough. I was surprised to receive an E-card from Aaron. According to the email, the card arrived at 6:30 AM. That was surprising since we were on the phone till a little after 3 AM. I myself didn't wake up until "Eugene" called me a little after 9:30 AM. Of course, I told him about all my drama...but that's getting away from the point. (Okay, back to the point!) So anyway I receive the E-card, get a smile-on and proceed to send him one back.

Early afternoon comes and I decide to head to Bally's. For the last three weeks, I've been going to the same Bally's near my house Sunday afternoons, Tuesday evenings, and Thursday evenings. Normally I mix it up going to different Bally's but since I got over my fear of the "track", not to mention noticing my mid-section seemingly being smaller afterwards, I've been sticking to the same Bally's. It's the only one that has the actual track, which I run around Tuesdays and Thursdays.

So I put my stuff in a locker and work out on the treadmill around 2PM. I know Aaron may call me at anytime so I leave my cell phone on my person, even though I leave it on vibrate. I finish on the treadmill around 2:55. Yeah I did 55 minutes...whoo hoo! I open my phone and there's a voicemail. I didn't even feel my phone vibrate at all. So I head upstairs, check the message, and it's Aaron. I call him moments later and we make pleasant talk. I tell him that I still have another 30 minutes of working out to do and then I'll call him and head over to meet him. Things are all cool.

I do ab stuff and then more leg exercises. I head back to the lockerrooms to retrieve my stuff and wash up. I get to my locker and my stuff is gone. I act relatively calm considering and try to think if maybe I picked the wrong row or something. After going to the other rows, I know deep down that my stuff is gone. I race to the front desk and ask if they seen anyone taking off with a bag like mine (Like they'd know.). I look out at the parking lot and am relieved to see my car still there. So an attendant and myself raced back into the lockerrooms and frantically (well I was frantic..*LOL*) searched all the other lockers. I even went to the steamrooms and the pool area. Nothing. Moments later, the attendant calls me and points to my bag near the stalls. I race to it and everything is there, except $140 and a credit card. Luckily they didn't take my ATM card or Best Buy card. Of course, Bally's has the big warning that you assume the risk of putting your items in the lockers. So relieved that everything else looked unharmed, I take the bag (ignoring the fact that it was exposed to germs...*LOL*) and race out of the facility.

I immediately call Aaron, who answers like on the first ring. I tell him what happened and he plays the part of sympathetic friend appropriately. He tells me that he understands if I can't make it to see him. I'm a bit distraught still but I tell him I'm okay with still meeting but I had to head home real quick and get the number to my credit card company so I could cancel my card. So we hang up and I decide to call Eugene. Of course, he questions why the hell I leave valuables in the lockerroom. He annoys me a bit but fortunately I find the credit card contact information at home so I tell him I'll call later.

The punks waste no time using the card, stopping at a Speedway. Unfortunately they couldn't tell me where, even though the punks were long gone by then anyway. So Hemingway, the whole process of closing is relatively less painful than the last time, which wasn't that long ago, actually...*LOL*.

I call Aaron after getting off the phone with the credit card company. I get his voicemail. Hmmm. I leave a message. I wait for a bit, hoping Aaron will call back. Nothing. I start to get hungry so I actually eat some canned pineapples. At least that's kinda healthy...:-) More time passes and I still don't hear anything. I call him again, leaving a slightly more agitated message. I decide to order a Lou Malnati's small deep dish. If you're a native of Chicago, you know Lou's ranks up there as one of the best deep dishes in the Chicago area. At that point, I accept that I probably won't be meeting Aaron.

Before picking up my "pity party meal", I head to the local Police station to file a police report. The cop there kindly informs that since the Bally's I go to is in another burb, I need to file a police report there. When I get to that burb's station, I create some unnecessary drama by not reading the entire sign that only barred entry if you had a dangerous substance in your possession, otherwise you can enter...*LOL*. I wasted my time walking all around the facility until the boys in blue directed me back to that door.

So I file my report and learn that there's been a rash of locker break-ins at Bally's. Based on that, I confirmed what I already knew. I would just be another statistic and the perps would remain on the loose to do it again to other unsuspecting members. For now on, I plan on keeping all valuables in a pouch that's with me at all times. I think I may even change my clothes at home (or work) before going there so I can leave my stuff in the car.

I go pick up my pizza and head over to Jewels for some Haagen-Daaz ice cream (Caramel Cone & Cookies n Cream) to go with it. eric g., pity party of one, to go please!

To top it off, I never heard anything back from Aaron. Didn't I tell you, karma's a bitch!! All because of created drama. I get back enough drama for my Mama and my Grandmama. :-)