I’m not sure that there has been a clearer manifestation of my inability to come up with a decent plot than tonight. I started out with jogger and even did up that picture but sat and sat, wrote up something and decided it might be far too controversial or something (how is THAT possible with jogging?!) and then I considered journalist. Banged my head on my non-existent desk (I’m using a laptop upon which I did not bang my head). And finally looked through nouns beginning with j and saw jukebox. The story wasn’t immediate. I remembered an ice cream parlor that my brother took me and my sister to when I was 11 and there were cute little jukeboxes on each table. Thus, a story begun. Phew, now if only I could put all of THAT rambling into a story. 😉 Here we go!

Jukebox Jerk

Shelly thought it was cute that he took her to an old-fashioned ice cream parlor that had tabletop jukeboxes. She thought it was cute that he took so much time selecting songs, figuring that he must be finding the most romantic tunes to set the mood and impress. She thought it was cute when he sat back, smiling like a bad boy. And then misogynistic, foul-language pretending to be singing reached her ears.

“Nobody raps like him, am I right?” he asked. “He’s the coolest of the cool.”

She watched him head bopping to the music until he saw a waitress and yelled: “Hey, you, can we get some service here or is this, like, one of those self-serve places?”

When he tried to order for her without consulting her, she decided that this date had lasted long enough. She smiled although it took every last bit of the politeness that her mother instilled in her.

“You know, a headache’s suddenly come on. I’m getting a Lyft home. Thanks for, er, the music,” she said.

Just as her put her hand on the door handle, she heard him say, “Headache must account for that look on her face like she was constipated.”

And the reply from who could only be the waitress. “Oh, I’m sure she was just being discerning.”

“I don’t know this disearning. Is that a female thing?”

Thankfully, she heard no more. Damn dating apps.

end