Ode a.k.a. Captain Planet

Last weekend I went to Bancroft, Ontario for a geology field trip. (I know, can you believe they do field trips in college?) Bancroft is the mineral collecting capital of the world, so it was great from a geologist’s perspective and also from a get-to-know-your-classmates perspective. 

It was a twelve hour ride, a minivan full of five new faces, and frequent stops on the side of the road to talk about rocks. Not my ideal vacation. But good lordy, I never knew how attractive all the boys in my department are! It was like, take your pick! Well, I didn’t have to. There were two guys in my van, and over the weekend I got to know them both pretty well. Mark was sitting up front; he’s really chill and laid back, but when he talks he actually has cool stuff to share. Ode (pronounced "O-dee") was sitting next to me in the van, and he’s a high powered kind of guy. Social activist, dissatisfied with the state of the world, etc, etc, and talking to me nonstop, with probing questions and silly banter the whole ride up. By day two he had already asked me out. So I set a date with him for this week then carried on with my weekend of rocks. (And drinking! Geology majors love their beer. My prof loves his scotch. A liquor stop was incorporated into the itinerary. I got to buy for my very first time!)

Maybe the future date had something to do with it, or maybe it was the fact that I was crammed between Ode and another girl in the back seat for 8+ hours, but by the return ride on Sunday, this kid was driving me nuts. None of his banter was funny; it was obnoxious. And he kept picking on me because the temperature in the car was a million degrees. On top of that, I seriously didn’t want to have a deep conversation with him about anything. Dude, just let me sleep/be miserable. When we all got back to school I was happy to leave that cramped car and never look back. 

The date was on Wednesday, and Ode texted me Sunday night and Tues afternoon, both at times where I was really busy and couldn’t respond adequately. So I pared it down to the basics: Are we still going on a date? What time? Like I said, the kid was driving me crazy, so I wasn’t super excited about making plans together. But, I’d said yes to the date, and I wasn’t going to drop out even if I wasn’t really into Ode like that.

Judging by his response texts, he wasn’t into me either! He said he’d confirm the date late Tuesday night. No text. So I asked him what had happened last night on Wednesday morning. (Pushing my pride aside, I couldn’t pass up a chance for a date.) He said, “oh yea...so what time?” Like he’d forgotten he had this date to do. I was thinking, I may have friend-zoned you, but you asked me out! You can’t friend zone me too! I was fully prepared to go on this date both participants being totally unenthused. 

I have to take it all back. This was a really nice date. We went out for dinner, he paid and wouldn’t let me argue, and complimented me throughout the evening, but not in a creepy way. Ode is really fascinating. He’s done so much for environmental justice already, organizing youth groups, leading a student org (SEAL- Student Environmental Action Leaders), staging rallies, and he’s only 23. I mentioned that I have a mentor who is a big community leader and CEO of a growing non-profit in the city, and he already knew her! He’d actually worked with her while doing community forums for a city redevelopment project. 

The artist has started adding her own commentary. This could get interesting.
This is her depiction of Ode.

Needless to say, we had a ton to talk about, and the conversation stayed strong for all of dinner. Afterwards, he drove me home where he gave me a big hug and asked if I’d be interested in going out again sometime. Had to say yes. 

This is actually where the Yes Clause is designed to work. I’m not into Ode. It’s just not there for me. I want to be friends with him because he is so cool, but in the real world, I would face the struggle of saying no to a date and then saying, “Let’s just be friends.” Instead, I’m saying yes to Date 2, and giving him another shot. In reality, I’m giving myself another shot at seeing something more than my initial appraisal. Maybe I miss some great qualities in guys because I’ve already decided that they aren’t gonna sweep me off my feet. If that’s the case, then I ought to be giving everyone a second chance, and better yet, truly reserving judgement for a bit. I know that’s nearly impossible, but being non-judgmental is something to aim for. Being open-minded has never hurt anything. That same open-mindedness got me into this project...

Also, check out the new gadget on the sidebar that gives a shout out to my amazing artist who does all the drawings!