Escape-A-Date!

August 4, 2004 11:31 AM

Stuck on a horrible date? Cingular Wireless to the rescue!
posted by braun_richard (32 comments total)

Virgin Mobile has had it for a while now, and I'm sure there are other operators have had it also. I'm not sure why this is such big news.
posted by gyc at 11:38 AM on August 4, 2004

I developed a system to send myself reminders, get out of meeting pages, etc. a long time ago. It took about 2 hours to write and I never sent out a press release. If this kind of thing is popular maybe I should make it public for those who don't want to be tied down to a particular provider, send out a press release and get bought out by Microsoft (so they can claim the innovation).
posted by m@ at 11:44 AM on August 4, 2004

I'm not sure why this is such big news.

It isn't. Its a press release. So it's a bad post. And it's about to get worse with the deluge of tired references to Pepsi Blue.
posted by Mayor Curley at 11:51 AM on August 4, 2004

When I'm on a lousy date, there's nothing I look forward to more than returning home to a cold, refreshing Pepsi Blue.

Happy?
posted by mkultra at 11:55 AM on August 4, 2004

Virginmobile? Yeah, I drove that a few times.
posted by Outlawyr at 11:57 AM on August 4, 2004

This is a bad post? Heck, I know it's a press release type thing, but isn't what is actually in the link matter more than simply stating "it's a press release, therefore it's a bad post?" There could be something of an interest even in a press release, especially if that something is funny or odd or controversial or whatever.
posted by braun_richard at 12:06 PM on August 4, 2004

This is a bad post?

Yes.
posted by majcher at 12:14 PM on August 4, 2004

This is an interesting idea but someone is gonna have to go on alot of crappy dates to pay $5 a month for the escape plan.

Besides, how hard is it to get a pal to call you at a given time so you jet on Mr. Hair Plugs or on Ms. Voice Like Fingernails on a Chalkboard?
posted by fenriq at 12:14 PM on August 4, 2004

Yes

No.
posted by braun_richard at 12:16 PM on August 4, 2004

Why not just say "I don't like you and I'm going home"

Honesty is my only excuse
posted by WLW at 12:29 PM on August 4, 2004

Metafilter: I don't like you and I'm going home.
posted by emelenjr at 12:42 PM on August 4, 2004

Metafilter: My cat's breath smells like cat food. Now I must be going.
posted by haqspan at 12:45 PM on August 4, 2004

Metafilter: There could be something of an interest even in a press release, especially if that something is funny or odd or controversial or whatever.
posted by Outlawyr at 12:47 PM on August 4, 2004

Metafilter: This date is bad because I have no imagination of my own.
posted by NationalKato at 1:03 PM on August 4, 2004

Besides, how hard is it to get a pal to call you at a given time so you jet on Mr. Hair Plugs or on Ms. Voice Like Fingernails on a Chalkboard?

How hard is it to say, "Ya know, this just ain't happening. See ya". Besides, any pussy who can't speak his mind and has to rely on a phone to bail on a date can't be worth much anyway.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 1:15 PM on August 4, 2004

The Board of Directors of Cingular Wireless Corp. would sincerely like to thank you for this post.
posted by moonbird at 2:14 PM on August 4, 2004

Geez, why are people always so itchy to get out of unpleasant things? If it's going badly, turn it to your advantage. Have some fun. Say stuff you'd never let even think about saying on a real date. Talk about whatever weird thing you want to. Discuss sexual kinks. Who knows, maybe it'll turn out she's into the same kinks you are in the bedroom, and even if she's boring as hell the rest of the time, you can still get a good screw or two out of it, right?
posted by nath at 2:49 PM on August 4, 2004

mr. richard, whatever else is in the link, the fact that it comes from a press release, in and of itself, is not good. Does that always overwhelm any content, no matter how good? Not necessarily. But it's a bad place to start from. Stop whining and try to argue why the content itself is sooo good that it rises above the commercial stench. I mean, shit, obviously *you* thought it was a good post. You posted it!

But. We. Don't. Like. Product. Pitches. Even for geek-sassy products that let you ditch the ugly bitches.
posted by scarabic at 4:07 PM on August 4, 2004

Scarabic's last paragraph there has a deceptively laid-back flow to it.
posted by LionIndex at 4:51 PM on August 4, 2004

I like nath's idea very much. But Mrs. BillSaysThis has pretty firm rule about me not dating other people so mot much chance for me to experiment. Who wants to let me experience it vicariously?
posted by billsaysthis at 5:15 PM on August 4, 2004

scarabic:

First of all, it's Mr. Braun, not Mr. Richard. I'm not a hair dresser or a Hollywood clothing designer.

Second, I look at the content, not just the fact that it was a "product pitch." Yes, I did think it was a good link. That IS why I posted it. Not sure what your point is here. It's not an earth-shattering link, but I thought it was good for a chuckle. I can see other posters agree with me.

And please point to where the hell I was whining.

moonbird:

The Board of Directors of Cingular Wireless Corp. would sincerely like to thank you for this post.

Oh, PLEASE. The mention of any product or service, even in a non-press release post, could be considered advertisement for the product.
posted by braun_richard at 7:00 PM on August 4, 2004

I met a woman once
posted by Pretty_Generic at 7:53 PM on August 4, 2004

Metafilter: I met a woman once.

/obligatory
posted by orelius at 8:10 PM on August 4, 2004

There's this documentary about middle-aged single people shot in, I think, New York City. I saw it a few years ago. One of the interviewees looks something like Abraham Vigoda, but nowhere near as likeable. The interviewee said his peak was sometime in the late seventies when he made love to three different women on the same day (I think they were different dates) on Far Rockaway Beach. Chain smoker, jaded, odd framed glasses, said he was looking forward to this date with "this classy Italian broad" he had met. He told the interviewer when the dates were going headlong into dullsville, he would step to the loo and in that pre-wireless way, surreptitiously pay phone his pager service, asking them to beep him in ten. He'd sit with his date, feign surprise at the beep, go to the payphone, return, fibbingly excuse himself for work-related issues, give her money for cab fare and leave.
posted by philfromhavelock at 8:35 PM on August 4, 2004

I'm fascinated to learn whether this Abraham Vigoda connection is tainted with preexposure to the other Vigoda thread, or whether it is a true coincidence.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 8:40 PM on August 4, 2004

Terrible dates make excellent stories.
posted by onlyconnect at 8:51 PM on August 4, 2004

now *that* sounds like the start of an ill-begotten AskMe thread. Ever had the last words to your date be, "I'll be here at nine with the bail money"?
posted by notsnot at 9:21 PM on August 4, 2004

But. We. Don't. Like. Product. Pitches. Even for geek-sassy products that let you ditch the ugly bitches.

Geek-sassy product pitches, helping you ditch the ugly bitches.
posted by oaf at 1:55 AM on August 5, 2004

Terrible dates make excellent stories.

but bad dates are just bad.
If something is unbelievably wrong, it can be amusing in retrospect. If something's just boring, mundane, ordinary, "not happening", then not so much. Even painfully bad interactions can be incredibly boring stories if it's just the way someone grates against you, not their socially bizarre actions.

Perhaps you could make something into a fun story following nath, but usually you need a willing foil or you have to become the funny story (so the boring mousy annoying girl will be telling her friends for weeks, can you believe he actually said that?)

The emergency phone call getaway seems so overused that no one would really fall for it anymore... Although I guess no one needs to "fall for" it - it's just a bit more polite than saying, look, I don't like you, bye (even if you say this nicely, the point is, you're saying the person is not even worth wasting an hour or two with while getting some coffee /food/ drink, despite the fact that you have nowhere else to be)
posted by mdn at 6:53 AM on August 5, 2004

True. If she's just boring, and not really willing to play along, you will definitely be the can-you-believe-he-said-that guy.

But whatever. It's not like you're going to see her again, and there's a strong chance her friends are just as boring as you are-- they've gotta have something in common, right?. So who cares what they think?
posted by nath at 1:46 PM on August 5, 2004

(even if you say this nicely, the point is, you're saying the person is not even worth wasting an hour or two with while getting some coffee /food/ drink, despite the fact that you have nowhere else to be)

This is another great reason to keep ALL first dates short. If it sucks, you don't have to be there too long. If it's going well, but you have to cut out, there's a pretty good chance you'll get a second date out of it.
posted by nath at 1:47 PM on August 5, 2004

now *that* sounds like the start of an ill-begotten AskMe thread. Ever had the last words to your date be, "I'll be here at nine with the bail money"?

No...but I gotta heck of a story about a date that *started* with bail. :)

And braun_richard, I'm sorry to have to say that this is indeed a sucky post. A single link to a press release? Come on, you've been around here long enough to know better. You could have plumped up the post with links to bad date sites, silly stories about bad dates, coyote date jokes...the possibilities were endless.

This was either lazy or viral.
posted by dejah420 at 10:34 PM on August 5, 2004