How to Meet a Guy at Thumbs Up

(Originally posted to my MySpace page on December 16, 2006.)

Jada and I decided to meet @ Thumbs Up on Edgewood late this morning for brunch. If you live in the ATL, you know that Thumbs Up on a Sunday is a happenin' spot and the wait to be seated is in the 60 minute range. Well, we didn't mind the wait because it was an unseasonably warm day and we could use the time to catch up on each other's lives.

So we're sitting/standing outside just shooting the breeze and talking 'bout folks when this HOT, tall, chocolately brother (known here on out as Hot Chocolate) walks towards us. I gave Jada the heads up so she could check him out too. As he came closer, my dumb a** stares at his shoes (a good indicator of what kind of guy he is) instead of staring directly at him. Shortly thereafter Jada told me he was checking me out as I was checking out his shoes. Anyway, there's a cute little coffee shop next to Thumbs Up and that's where Hot Chocolate was headed while he and his (male) friend endured the hour wait. He went in the coffee shop and Jada and I immediately began a strategy session about how to get his attention. "Ask him what time it is," Jada whispered. But he came out too quickly and again I missed the head nod that he apparently gave me. Lucky for me, he came back to the coffee shop a few minutes later. At the time, Jada and I were in deep conversation about how to appropriately wear footless tights. When he came out of the coffee shop for the second time, I opened my mouth to ask him what kind of drink he got (I'm such a dork!), when he chastised Jada and I for talking about this girl across the street's tights. He came over and joined us, just making small talk about this and that. He left after a few minutes and that was it...or so I thought!

So about a 1/2 hour later it was finally our turn to be seated. Jada and I ordered and ate our meal and had a good time enjoying each others company. But I just couldn't let the opportunity to meet this guy pass. So all of a sudden I came up with the boldest idea of my adult life! I flagged down our waitress, pointed out Hot Chocolate and asked her to go find out if he and his friend had already paid their check. She came back and told me that they hadn't paid yet. I asked her to bring me his check and I gave her the money for it and wrote a note on the back for him. The note said, "You'll have to call me to thank me!" with my name and number! Oh my! That's SO unlike me. :) The server then took the check/note back over to him and Jada and I just set back and waited to see what was going to happen.

A few moments later his friend got up, put money down on the counter and walked outside. Then, Hot Chocolate got up...and came towards our table! I was freakin' out! He said "Hello, may I speak to Tia?" and my dumb a** pointed to Haillie! He went along w/the act and introduced himself to Haillie. Then Jada stepped in and pointed to me. He then introduced himself to me and said, "I just wanted to say Thank You." He could've stopped there, but he went on to say something along the lines of wanting to take me out to thank me some more. I was only half listening because I was in shock that little 'ole me actually did something like this! We all got up to leave then and him and I exchanged a few more words (which I don't remember) before we parted ways.

Even if Hot Chocolate never calls me, it doesn't matter! I'm so proud of myself for being bold and putting myself out there w/out fear of being shot down. I'm so sick of people being scared of the unknown! Be bold, people! You never know what may happen. The best part of all this is I was rushing out of the house to meet Jada and threw on my fave pair of Target (Mossimo) jeans, dirty sneakers, and wrinkled 'AIDS Walk 2004' t-shirt; in other words I looked a hot mess! But still I had enough confidence to step to this guy! How' bout that?!

Here's wishin' all of my girls out there the courage and confidence to approach ANY guy at ANY time...especially at Thumbs Up diner!