780: Setting the Record Straight
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A quick warning, there are curse words that are unbearped in today's episode of the show. If you prefer a beeped version, you can find that at our website, thisamericanlife.org. From the UV-Z Chicago, it's this American life from our glass. I'm joined in the studio right now by my co-worker Tobin Low, Hey there Tobin. Hi, Ira. And I'm just going to say that the story you're about to tell, you acknowledge the existence of sex, but that's really all that you acknowledge that it exists. Tell me, tell me what happened. Yeah. Okay, so this guy Paul, this happened when he was in his early 20s and he arranges this hookup with a guy he meets online and I should say the guy, his profile doesn't have that much info. Like it says he's closeted that if they're going to meet up, it has to be very discreet. He said I couldn't go over to his place and I also had a roommate, so he would have been difficult for me to host him as well. So he told me, I know a spot, I know a spot that we can go. Why don't you just meet me at these cross streets at 10 o'clock? And I said, okay, it works for me. And so I drove over at night to where he told me to meet him. I get to the cross streets and he isn't there, there's nobody there. And so I think, okay, no worries, he's running late, I'll just hang around for a bit. And so finally he sees this guy standing on a corner and the guy beckons for him to pull over. And I'm like, okay, great confirmation, it's him, perfect. And I lower the window and I say to him, oh, sorry about that, I just wasn't sure if it was you. And he was like, don't sweat it, it's all good. And he gets in my car. So Paul asks him, you know, where are we going? And the guy starts to direct him to the hookup spot, like, you know, make a left up there, turn right of this corner. This started to feel a little weird when several minutes passed and we were still driving. Because I had been under the assumption that this secret spot would have been like around the corner or something. So then I asked him, well, where are we going? And then he says, Glendale. Now if you're not familiar with LA, I mean, the place where I picked him up was in Franklin Village and Glendale isn't like super, super far, but it's still close to a 20 minute drive. Something must not be adding up here. And then I start to second guess everything that had happened on that ride so far. Like why wasn't he at the spot when he said he would be, you know, he was like a little bit further up. That was also weird. And then he realizes this must not be the guy. There's no way that this is the guy I'm supposed to be meeting. So was he scared? Like, did he think this guy might rob him or hurt him in some way? He actually, he doesn't have time to be scared because he pretty immediately realizes exactly what's happened. You know, like why a guy would wave you down and get into your car.
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