we should date

Last night at a launch party for a very cool tech start-up, I chatted with a man who is a friendly acquaintance of mine about the many people and things we only recently became aware we have in common. He mentioned he lived in Boston. I told him I attended college there. He said he dated a girl who also attended my alma mater.

"Who'd you date?" I asked him.

He responded by sheepishly smiling, glancing at the other people standing near us, and replying, "Uh, I think my girlfriend might object..."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

He just looked at me with raised eyebrows.

And then I realized that he thought I'd said, "We should date."

Obviously I immediately repeated what I'd actually said and we laughed at the silly miscommunication.

Even though I would never, ever say something so aggressive, especially to someone I barely know and in the presence of other people I also barely know, (despite the seemingly-immediate effects of the Long Island ice tea I was sipping), I kind of liked being mistaken for someone who would be so bold. What if I actually had the chutzpah to clearly and directly inform someone that I am of the belief that we should be more than friends? In front of an audience no less?

Or maybe I should just lay of the Long Island ice teas and try to remember to enunciate.