I got to know this person in a singles group conversation. We just so happened to be in the same locality. We made the choice to learn more about ourselves. We decided to set up a date to meet in person before deciding how the relationship would progress after talking for a time and finding that we had a lot in common.
As a result, we decided on a time and place for our meeting. And soon before the D-Day, he called me to let me know when he would be out. He advised me to prepare for his impending arrival. So I got ready. I was waiting for him to phone me, but because it's close to my house, I can go out and meet him now since he's already there.
Despite being approximately 40 minutes late, he called and I met him at the restaurant where we were supposed to meet. Since I had already seen his images, it wasn't difficult to locate him. We went ahead and placed our orders for food and beverages. We then got to talking, sharing our interests and learning more about one another. Everything was going smoothly until I saw that he ate quickly and was trying to urge me to do the same. I respectfully declined and told him that I don't eat quickly.
After arriving late, this ended up being the second thing that turned me away. He and I have quite different perspectives, so I can see why we kept talking even though his reasoning was more akin to that of a child than a mature adult.
When he first met me and knew very little about me, he insisted that he loved everything about me. This was another red flag for me. My kind of man, in my opinion, must be upright.
Even though the encounter had gone south, I realized as the evening drew on that it had still taught me valuable lessons. Sometimes you only get to know someone's true self after spending more time with them. It served as a prompt to continue prudence and refrain from making hasty judgments based just on appearances.