Cafe Hitch-hike

2004-02-28

Dancing?

A few weeks ago when I was blabbering as I can do at times, I told John how much I liked to dance and to go on the town once in a while. I even added how much I liked to dress up a little, and I thought it was way-cool when the fella would dress up too.

I added, "what can I say? I grew up around all these handsome Latin men. Now my teacher said women get dolled up to attract men, but I knew that wasn't totally true, even in grade 3. I watched those guys shave, put on cologne, and get dressed up to look nice for their ladies."

"The men would get dressed up," I continued. "Now, this was the late 70s, and the guys would wear silk shirts, and sometimes colored 3-piece suits. Yeah, it gives me a little kick when guys dress like this when they go out and dance."

John's been nursing bronchitis since after Valentine's Day. He felt that he was in fine form by now and really wanted to go out dancing.

Dancing, alright. Dancing sounds cool. One of the librarians suggested Hotel St. Regis because I wanted someplace more elegant and not some cigarette smoky, beer-on-the-floor kind of place. So, we were going go for dinner and dancing.

I dressed in black and heels to look nice but not too nice. So, John comes to pick me up...

(Let me say a thing about John. He is Irish-Catholic and has brown/red hair, green eyes, and ruddy skin to go with it. Second, he is very neat and conservative in his appearance and demeanor.)

Last night, he showed up at my door wearing a gold-tone suit and tie. It matched his coloring, and he looked quite nice. He even looked rather confident, and it actually looked good on him. I had to wheeze back a snicker from the surprise of seeing him dressed this way. He didn't look like a pimp or anything, and certainly not embarrassing. It just surprised me to see him that way!

We ate at the Hotel St. Regis and it was interesting. The hotel looks like something fromt the 1930s, and it was an interesting contrast from what is in that area of Detroit. It was sad to see the beautiful restaurant was empty. We were served by two Hindi guys in tuxedos who proceeded to give us entrees with the biggest servings I had ever seen in my life! For dessert, we had chocolate-covered strawberries, and then proceeded to the lounge for dancing.

The lounge was also sadly empty, though the DJ played R&B. We danced to a couple songs, but he was clearly uncomfy. We went to another place in Livonia where he heard there was dancing.

So, we went to this other place. We hit the dancefloor, expecting a little awkwardness for the first couple of songs until a drink or two was consumed. Instead, he went crazy on the dancefloor. He knew what he was doing, he knew quite a few moves, and danced with alot of energy. And, I couldn't believe it!

Mild-mannered, clean-cut John can dance? Not just slow dance, but even to fast ones? I was so surprised I had to keep myself from cracking up! The funny thing is that he is tall and I haven't seen many tall people dance alot. He danced fine, though there was a funny twitch that his height brings. So when I put it all together, all I've come to know and get used to about him, his dancing really threw me a curve.

After the last dance, he asked me about Latin dances. I said I knew some basic moves but I really wanted to take some lessons.

"Really? Do you know of places where you can dance to that around here?"

"Yes," I said.

"Find about about them," he said.

"Alright," I said. "A lot of them give lessons before the dance hall opens."

"That sounds great, I'd like to try the lessons."

I was surprised and had to snicker. My mild-mannered, quiet guy likes to dance? Better yet, he wants to learn merengue and samba??? I had to laugh, I'm still laughing about that. I know I shouldn't laugh. He wants to!

But it gets me thinking... I was surprised to see how he listened to what I had do say. He not only listened, he pretty much said, "ay, let's go do it!" And, we did it! Well, unbeknownst to me, he liked dancing as well. It just left an impression on me that he was able to try to bring what I liked to me, even down to the dressing in the gold-tone suit.

Yes, I know that the current state of our relationship has limits. I know what he is willing to give, and then I responded by only giving in ways that would not compromise me and my feelings. It just surprises me at times when he shows and gives so much. It makes me all think that this is what friends do for one another... do the things they enjoy together, and bring things to each other that they can bring that makes each other happy. The dancing was a nice time; and yet it lets me see what we can still bring to each other within these limits...

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