Mr. Monk and the Mormon

Have you ever had an experience that left you wondering, "Seriously, this can't really be happening?" I had an experience this week that has still left me quite puzzled and now that I am writing the events down, I am not sure this post will ever get posted. This whole situation could be chalked up to a crazy single girl story but at the end, I still don't have any answers. So, let's begin. About a month or so ago, I was walking in to the gym when I say this cute guy. I checked for a wedding ban (this is a must as a single girl but doesn't guarantee that the guy is single) acknowledged his cuteness and moved on. He was tall, broad, and bald. However, as I was leaving the gym, I noticed him again but this time I took him off my list of possibilities for reasons that will be come obvious by the end of this post. Over the following months, I would see him, question his situation in my head, again acknowledge his cuteness, and move on. Well, this week something changed. On Thursday, we happened to pass each other in the gym and our eyes met, I smiled, he smiled and then I quickly looked at the ground. I am a bit gun-shy and I am not good at the whole, keep eye contact, smile, flirt thing. On Saturday, I was walking into the gym when I saw him coming in behind me so I held the door for 10 seconds and said something stupid as he thanked me for holding the door. I honestly was not flirting with him but it seemed rude to just let the door slam in his face when he was behind me. I started on the treadmill and started working out in my own world. After my treadmill warm-up, I decided to go to lift some weights. I had my headphones on and I just went about my usually routine. However, HE was lifting weights too. I honestly tried not to pay attention to him and I even tried to act coy but it seemed as if we were operating in a very small circle. I went over to the leg machines and I thought I could feel him looking at me. I did my bicep curls by the mirror and he came over and I thought he actually wanted to say something but I did my best to avoid eye contact. He walked over to the hand weights himself and then he had to move out of my way so I could put my weights back. Believe me when I say that I wasn't flirting (I don't really know how). We just happened to be lifting weights at the same time. When I was done with my routine, I went to get my chart and sat down on an exercise ball to fill out my day's accomplishments. All of a sudden, HE walks up and asks me if it helps to keep a record of my workouts. After I quickly recovered from the fact that he was talking to me, I told him it did and I quickly flipped through the chart I keep. I asked him about the record that he kept because I watched him flip through his day planner during his workout. "Oh", he said. "That is not a chart, those are prayers that I am working on. You see, I am a Buddhist Monk." SERIOUSLY! I am not kidding. I have never had a man come up and talk to me in the gym and the one guy that finally comes up to talk to me is a Buddhist Monk????? Luckily, I already thought he was a monk to the fact that he came into the gym sometimes dressed like this sometimes but I really hoped that he wasn't. He is cute.

So, I did what I am good at and I interviewed him. I asked him why he became a monk and we talked about religion and such. It was not the usual first meeting questioning. I kept thinking to myself, "You are a monk. WHY are you talking to me?" I wanted to think that it is because we both have not dated in a long time and we are both religious but seriously, how would he have known that? I know that monks take many vows so it didn't make any sense that he would want to "get to know me". I am sure that it wouldn't work to go to dinner or go to the movies. It is just strange. I have no idea what to think about the situation so, I introduced myself, "Umm, my name is Chris, it's nice to meet you." "It is nice to meet you, my name is John Paul." John Paul, a good strong New Testament name. John Paul- the Buddhist monk. So, where does that leave Mr. Monk and Mormon? Who knows but going to the gym has become a lot more interesting.