It's Hard Work

Politely, he knocked on the door.
'Enter', she said. She got up from the desk as he entered, dressed in a suit and tie.
He smiled and approached. They shook hands.
'Andy.'
'Hi Andy, I'm Patricia. Did you have trouble finding the place?'
'Me? No, it was easy.'
'Well, sit down. Can I get you some coffee?'
'Sure, thanks.'
As she came back and put the cups on the desk, she noticed he was looking around the room. Easily distracted, she thought.
'So, where shall we start?' he asked.
'Well, the way I see it, I'd like to find out a bit more about you, your past experiences and what you've learned from them, that sort of thing.'
'Ehm… All right', he said, nervously, and proceeded to tell her about the stuff he'd done in the past, how he'd related to other people, how they'd treated him and how he'd reacted to that. He tried not to sound too vindictive or bitter, because, truth be told, he was neither.
'OK,' she said,' so let me ask another question. What do you consider your good points, and what are your bad points?'
'Gee', he said. 'I guess my good points are that I'm a good listener, and I'm pretty empathic, but my bad point is that I can be, you know, impatient. Not to the point of being sloppy, I like to finish what I started, but I don't like it if things slow down too much.'
She seemed happy with that. 'OK, here's another one. Where do you see yourself in five years?'
'Hmm, that's hard to say. I'd definitely be in a better job than where I am now, earning a decent salary, and, well, in five years you said? I'd be married and have a child or two, I'd say.'
'You seem pretty sure of that.'
'Oh, I know what I want, and I know how I go around getting it.'
'I see. Well,' she looked at her watch, 'I'm afraid we'll have to leave it at this, I have to be somewhere.'
'But do we meet up again?'
'Well, I'll call you and let you know, OK?'
'OK, you have my number?... Wait, here's my card.'
'Thanks a lot, bye-bye now.'

As he stood outside Patricia's apartment, Andy had to admit to himself that this had been by far the most bizarre blind date he'd ever had.