Date Number 3

This date was far more normal than the first two. In fact, he was so normal it made me nervous that I wasn't quite as normal as he was. Well, he also didn't start things off on the right foot.

He asked me on a coffee date. NOTE: this is probably the least-threatening offer ever. Good move, guy. So I asked him where he lived, for the purpose of picking a coffee shop location. The response?
"NYC, silly. LOL"
...clearly
So I tried again: I asked if he had a favorite neighborhood.
"Not really. All I know is some are gayer than others. LOL"
...NOTE: I'm not LOL-ing. In fact, I'm a little offended. And, we are now on Fail 2. So I try one last time. I tell him I'm coming from the Upper West, but need to be in the Lower East later, so if he wants to choose somewhere in there...
"Whatever you want"
MAKE A DECISION FOR THE LOVE OF PUPPIES!
After this final Fail (Fail 3) I choose a spot in the LES. He arrives a little bit earlier than me, so I find him waiting outside and we start talking about his job in Brooklyn. I ask if he lives out in Brooklyn. He says no. I ask if it's Manhattan. He says no. I kind of smile and take a sip of my coffee, realizing that maybe he doesn't want me to know where he lives, when he finally says that he hails from the Upper Bronx.
Fail 4: Should have just agreed to meeting in the Upper West.

He's a soft-speaker, which immediately makes me nervous, so I attempt to avoid the possibility of not hearing him by doing all of the talking. He doesn't mind my rambling (I blame it on the caffeine, just in case), but eventually gets a few words in here or there. He tells me about work, about his family, and about the Dominican Republic. Finally, he asks me to tell him a secret. I reply with a tight smile and tell him I don't have secrets. He tells me that of course I do. NOTE: I hate this question. I don't think there is any conceivable question I hate more than this one. If it's a secret, it's probably a secret for a good reason, so why in all the world would I tell a complete stranger? So he tells me that he has a secret: that his sister is pregnant. I'm not sure how to react to this, but he assures me that she is happy about the pregnancy (and happily married). So I ask him when she's going to tell their mother. He says she already did. It occurs to me at this point that his secret isn't actually a secret. Curious.

So we're talking and one of my favorite songs starts playing. I stop mid-sentence to acknowledge this fact and enjoy it a bit. I dive into a conversation about how great Pandora is because it makes a personalized radio station. My date replies "Oh, so you're artistic."
Confused. "No...I'm just pretty good at appreciating art?"
"But you play an instrument"
"...no. I just like...music."

Anyway, then we have a truly uncomfortable conversation about relationships and friends blah blah blah, and turns out when I'm nervous I have a habit of referencing all the information I have gathered over the years regarding neurons; I explained to him why it was so incredible that he learned English in high school. Multiple times. There might not be a second date here.