The 8:30 Girl

A few weeks ago I was asked on a date by a friend of a friend.  He called me while I was at work and left a message.  I called him back a few hours later and he paused like he didn't know who I was.  (this should have been my first clue to what the date would be like)  Anyway, he asks me when would be good for me and I told him Saturday would probably be the best.  So he says, "ok great. Saturday it is. oh wait...maybe I better make sure I'm available".  Uh yeah..maybe you should.  Anyway- turns out he was free- surprise.  He then tells me he will call me later in the week to let me know what is going on.  Well, Saturday rolls around and I still have yet to hear from this guy.  It's getting to be afternoon and I'm still not sure even what time I'm supposed to be leaving on this date.  Which is annoying because I have other things to do but I have no idea how much time I've got left to do it. 
Finally about 1pm he calls and tells me he is going to pick me up around 5pm.  wow, that's kind of early but okay.  He tells me we are going to go get dinner and then, and I quote "do some other stuff".  ummm....okay.  That either sounds like you have nothing planned past dinner OR you are a creeper.  I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he just has poor planning skills. 
 He picks me up and I start asking him the normal questions.  Where do you go to school? what are you studying?  He tells me his major and then in the same breath tells me he has no idea what he plans to do with it.  (Did I mention the guy is almost 30 yrs old) We finally get to the Mexican restaurant in Pleasant Grove and by this time all of my standard questions have been asked.  Mostly because the guy could only really give a one word response enabling us to get through a plethora of questions in a very short time.  By the time the server came I was pretty much out of questions.  The server gave me a short reprieve and I was able to get him going about the menu and he was quite entertaining actually.  But then he had to leave.  And I was left with Mr. One word response.  Well, at this point I realize that there is no chance this date is going anywhere so I begin to babble.  I start asking questions I don't really care about the answers to and rambling on about stupid things just to fill up the silence.  I am usually okay with a little silence but with this guy it was awkward silence.  Not comfortable silence.  Somehow I managed to make it through dinner.  After dinner we get in the car and head down toward Orem.  Let me just say I didn't think I would live to see my home again-he was one of the most terrifying drivers I have ever had the misfortune of riding with.  He drives down and as we are getting off on university parkway he says, "Oops I meant to get off on center street".  which could be flattering- maybe he was so into what I was saying that he missed his exit.  But that was not the case. 
We get off the freeway and drive back toward orem center.  As we approach Iceberg he asks me if I like Ice cream.  I don't really love ice cream but I don't hate it either.  I am not high maintenance so if that's what he has planned I will just go with it.  Except that I was still totally full from dinner.  Fifteen minutes is just simply not enough time.  (also if you have been to iceberg you know that their ice cream is WAY over sized) basic dating rule: if you are going to do dinner and ice cream you need to put something in between.  A movie, golf, a walk, anything.  you cannot do them back to back.  My stomach can't hold that much and then I will feel sick and not be a fun date. Anyway, We park the car and on the way in he says, "do you like eggnog?"  wow- random.  To which I honestly replied "not really".  I think that was the wrong answer because he got super quiet after that.  I knew I said something wrong but I didn't really know why it was wrong- until we walked in and I saw an add for eggnog milkshakes.  So now I am at a loss. I am not sure what he was planning? was I supposed to share this milkshake with him? cause really I wouldn't have done that anyway- I don't even know the guy.  So we stand there for probably ten minutes.  I was waiting for him to say something to me or the employees so I could get some idea of what was expected of me.  Finally he moves and we order.  After about half an hour he says, "well your ice cream is melting in it's cone and I we shouldn't make a mess so we should go"  Great.
We start driving and at this point I realize he is taking me home.  Really?? It's 8:30 on a Saturday night. 
Please don't get me wrong.  I was pretty emotionally exhausted from this ordeal but wow.  That was a record for me.  My question is...if he had nothing planned after that- why did he not just pick me up later.  I would have been fine with 7:30....at least then it would have been after 10 when I went home.  which is a much more acceptable time to be brought home. 
The best part about this last detail...3 days later I went on a date with someone else and I was again home by 8:30pm.  Ouch.  Now that's a blow to the ego.  I guess I'm not as fun of a date as I thought.  They just can't wait to take me home.