SuperPoke!

After watching my date check his emails, thumb his Blackberry, and refresh his Facebook status to reveal that absolutely nothing had transpired in the nanoseconds since his last update, I came to the realization that this man was a techno-junkie. Although we were ambling around Prospect Park on a luminous, unclouded afternoon, the serene setting did not distract this bloke from squinting at his iPhone screen and muttering the word "FarmVille" repeatedly.

At long last, when he was able to relinquish his handful of hand-held technology, we had an interesting discussion about life in New Jersey, genetics, and our family histories, at which time I disclosed that my father had passed away years prior.

Although no romance ever transpired between myself and this gent, we chatted briefly a few times post park date. Unfortunately, his Bluetooth headset may have obliterated his short-term memory, because each time we spoke he would never fail to ask, "And how's your dad doing?", to which I ultimately replied, "Still dead, but should that change, I'll update my Facebook status to "Dad Now Alive", and assign it a "Meredith likes this" thumbs up.

We never interacted again in either the real world or in the virtual realm, though I'm quite certain he soon forgot that I ever crossed his qwerty.