Most of us in our American society, past and present, remember his and her best and worst dates. In my case scenario, this was his "worst" date and supposedly my "best" date. I remember, vaguely, 1992, the Saturday before Easter. Since I had been baptized, any brother could ask me on a spiritual date. Christian dating is different than an ordinary date outside of the LA Church of Christ.
I was standing at the community park, on a Saturday mid-morning, in the city of Torrance, California, with a group of my new "Christian" church friends, when an attractive brother named Steve threw a football in the air. Surprisingly, he had asked me on a date. I didn't know what to say, at the moment, when I heard him said those words. How "shocking" for a guy who was, in my opinion and, perhaps, everyone else's too, a close resemblance to the actor Tom Cruise.
On this date, Steve slightly pushed my somewhat overweight Japanese body up on top of a roof that was several minutes in walking distance away from his apartment. I don't remember the exact details at what we had talked about, but the most vivid memory was his past obsession to be rich. This was his most anticipated struggle, he revealed. In addition to his becoming rich obsession, another memorable observance that I had noticed while on this past date was his intense undesirable stare. To this day, June 30, 2913, I remember. Steve's intense stare felt awkward and impolite. The feeling is hard to describe. A sense of being not 'very friendly' would suit Steve's description.
After our "talk" on top of the apartment's building roof, we, Steve and I, walked back to his place. Inside the apartment, two couples (Charles and Barbara; Doug and Angela) were presently waiting for us to arrive. Double and triple dating had been a requirement for those who were planning a date within the church organization. Dating among only ourselves were very rare. After the food had been cooked, all of us ate dinner and watched a 1991 movie Rocketeer in the apartment's living room.
At the end of the "spiritual" date, Steve asked to walk along the beach. I said that I needed to move and if he could help lift a few boxes out of the apartment where I was residing with a female coworker at United Airlines. He listened, agreeing, and transferred the packed boxes from Marjorie's Torrance apartment to a married couple's house in Redondo Beach. The dark-haired couple, Keith and Peggy Sandoval, at this time, had a kid son, Joesph, and an infant daughter, Nicole.
While Steve was driving, from his place to Marjorie's, he commented of not being interested in the sisters who he had asked out to go on a date. He felt an obligation, on his part, as a brother, to encourage them in the church. As Steve spoke, I remember hearing "Proud Mary" playing in the radio over the speakers. At a curbside, he parked the noncompact car. "Our date was like the movies," Steve said.
The most bizarre of a scenario was that I hadn't asked Steve to go on another date after he had asked me to go out on this date. "Weird isn't, Garrett?"
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