‘Tis time for another Tale From Sip and Go Girl. These are my real stories about dates and fellas I’ve met in my life.

Richard and I had our date at a vegetarian restaurant. He was from southern California, but was temporarily living in a city two hours from me while he was working in a contracting project. We had met online.

We ordered our food at the counter and sat down at the table. He seemed a little awkward and nervous, but I did my usual smiling and worked at keeping the conversation loose and flowing.

Suddenly, Richard reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of something. With a clatter, several rocks dropped onto the table.

“I found these outside my apartment,” he said.

I waited for more information from him about the rocks. They didn’t look any different from any other rocks I might see everyday. Maybe I was missing the point.

I wasn’t. There was nothing really more he had to say about them. He just wanted to show me the rocks.

We ate our food and then decided to walk around the shopping complex for a bit.

I was ready to leave, but I wanted to be polite. He had, after all, driven two hours to meet me for lunch.

It was tough to engage him in conversation. We had little in common and he didn’t have much to say. He sometimes would take a topic and go on and on about it, adding various comments that related to conspiracies in government or in software engineering.

We were standing, coincidentally, on a pile of rocks in the parking lot when he said to me, “What if I told you that it’s possible to fall in love with someone at first sight?”

“Okay?” I replied.

“I met someone in the Los Angeles area and we have an amazing connection. But, and this might also shock you, she or he is a transsexual. I can’t tell you her name because it might be one you recognize. She’s kind of famous.”

“Okay?” I replied.

He then told me more about conspiracies in government or the universe that were keeping him from her.

I never saw nor talked to him again.

I do, however, have his business card in case you’re looking for a software engineer.