A Curse from a Single Woman: Journal Past Blast

I must have written this while I was in law school, between 1990 and 1993, because for a little over a year I was going to USF School of Law while living in the East Bay. Though factual, I'll leave it up to you to determine whether some of this is not, since I don't quite remember. :) I added the title to this journal entry just now.

A Curse from a Single Woman

Being single is difficult nowadays, more so than in the past. People do some crazy things. A single woman today has to consider not only that a guy may want more than just a kiss, but that he may stalk, harass or otherwise be an ass.

In other ways, it’s a lot easier to be single today. I’m able to pick and choose from the multitude of livestock without much social stigma to prevent me from considering my enjoyment first.

So, I put an ad in the Bay Guardian. It wasn’t the first time. Probably not the last. A Paolo called. Older by one year than I referenced in the ad, but that wasn’t a major problem. I decided to call the number he left on my personal ad voice mail.

He spoke with a nice Italian accent which wasn’t necessarily too thick, and the conversation went fairly smoothly and was interesting. He made me laugh.

For the first meeting, Paolo picked me up from school and we went to the Cliff House Deli for a drink. Very nice views and atmosphere. After unsuccessfully attempting to get me to return to his house for the night (it was late and I live across the Bay) and in his bed, he took me home.

For the second date, we dined at Spangler’s and satisfied ourselves with filling and tasty seafood dishes. Then came dancing at the 5^th Avenue, a blues joint on Grand Ave. What a great time. Too crowded, too small and too hot. It was a perfect night.

And then he stayed over (in the living room). It was very late, and we were both tired. In the morning, we had a European breakfast at Au Coquelet. Yes, there was potential for this budding relationship. We enjoyed each other’s company. Maybe he looked a bit old, and he smoked, but hey….

Then, he didn’t call back. I left a couple of messages. When a week and a half passed with no response, I put a curse on him. I was very careful, however, to not make it too strong, just fitting his deception. I don’t let just anybody sleep over, even if on the couch, after only one real date.

I called him in the middle of the night twice (about 3 a.m.) and hung up each time he answered. See, he had to wake up early for work.

The curse: For two months he would remain lonely, no dates, no woman would interest him, neither would any be interested in him. No matter how much he would want to date, it would be a useless desire. He’d suffer emotionally. And he would continue to think about me. Near obsession.

This would continue for two months, or until he called me. I didn’t want the curse to be too harsh. There is usually payment to be made by the requester, payment which is rarely easy to relinquish. The less just you are in remitting the curse, the higher the payment.

After that, I forgot about him. That is, the curse wasn’t thought of again. He wasn’t constantly on my mind. Life went on. It was easy.

Believe it or not, two months later, I received a surprise phone call. It was Paolo. He said he’d been handling some legal business (DMV possibly) and couldn’t deal with anything until it had been resolved, which it had been just that morning. He said he felt a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Of course I berated him for not conversing this reason to me. He apologized sincerely. 

And yes, I forgave him. It was my duty, my payment for the curse’s completion.