Handy Manny goes to the Movies

Remember when the movie The Matrix came out, and most people went on and on about what a great movie it was? I was never one of those people. I couldn't understand why most people liked it, or even why I didn't. After describing my situation to some people, I realized I hadn't had the best theater-going experience.

I was 16 when I saw The Matrix at the local movie theater, and it was one of the first real dates I'd ever been on. My date was a very nice boy as well as a new friend of mine who was hoping o become a combination of the two. In my attempts to play it casual and cool, as we sat down in our seats, I tried to lean my head a little closer to him. I guess I wasn't as subtle as I thought because he looked at me with this grin on his face and said, "Oh, is THAT how you want to play?"

I guess that was true because I was happy that he followed this up with putting his arm around my shoulders. Even though I thought the line was weird, this was basically what I thought was right for a date, so I went with it.

Not too long into the film, I raised my left hand up to meet his, and he held onto it. At first, I'll admit this was very exciting! This was a real date, hand-holding and all! Then he proceeded to massage my hand with his. I thought this was weird, but I could tell that he thought this was the way to my heart, which in itself seemed sweet. I will say that more than an hour's worth of rough massaging of the top of my hand is actually not the way to my heart. It's the way to a very sore hand.

I tried excusing myself to the bathroom, but when I came back he did the same thing, and I was too shy to push him away. Let me say that I knew at that point that this date was both a first and last with this handy guy.

The one thing I liked about that viewing of The Matrix? That it ended.