What's in a Name?

I had a date on Sunday with the guy I’ve been seeing for a bit. He’s been mentioned in a few of my posts, but you’ll notice he’s remained unnamed. That’s strategic. I have a theory that way predates this blog.

For years I’ve shared my dating stories on Instagram but I wouldn’t share names or pictures of anyone because that felt like an invasion of privacy. They would be named by a defining characteristic. Like, for example, there was this guy I went on a couple dates with a few months ago that was very… proud to be Italian. Despite the fact he was a third generation American. It was amusing to me how much he talked about being Italian despite the fact I had spent infinitely more time in Italy than he had. Anyway, he would solely be referred to as “the Italian.” Or a guy I was chatting with but never actually went on a date with that I dubbed “the fake rich guy.” Man, he’s a story for another time.

Only once we established a real relationship of some sort, not necessarily a serious romantic relationship, but at least a friendship that made it not weird for me to talk about them, would a name be revealed. But it felt like as soon as I posted a picture or revealed a name of someone, they would fuck everything up. Like no matter how long I waited, it was only after I allowed them to not be some vague figment and gave them an actual identity would they fuck everything up. And I mean right after. Within the week. So at this point I generally like to wait to name people.

Now… I’m not entirely sure if this applies to my blog where I’m using fake names anyway. But it’s my own superstition so I guess that’s up to me. 

I was at the unnamed guy’s house and we were chilling in his hot tub. We got to discussing Dakota’s company Christmas party and how it was my first time playing craps. One thing led to another and all of a sudden we’re planning on taking a quick vacation to Las Vegas in a couple weeks. I’ve never been and he’s excited to show me around.

It’s only been a couple months but I’ve decided unnamed man must be named so I give him enough time to fuck up before I go to Vegas with him. I’ve never been away from my daughter overnight so this is a huge step. I’m very nervous about it and if he’s going to turn out to be a waste of time I want to find sooner rather than later. I’ve also never gone on a vacation with a partner besides Dakota so it’s new territory.

So, from here on out, he will be referred to as Sean. Sean is a little bit younger than me but it feels like we’re different generations. While I’m maybe Gen Z, depending on who you ask, I generally relate more to millennials. He definitely acts like Gen Z. He was a college athlete and I hear about it just a little bit too much. But overall he’s a decent guy. Very sweet. A little weird. I guess that’s kind of my MO.

Wish me luck that Sean is still in the picture in a couple weeks! I’m excited to get fucked up and go to real clubs in a real city. We don’t really have anything comparable where I live. We’ll see if my superstition is all for not.