Orchid lived on the East Side (i.e. not the Valley), and was seeing a boy. They broke up around the holidays. One of Orchid's friends invited her to a holiday dinner to help bring her mood up. She arrived at the friend's apartment, and met a guy at the party - I'll call him Pillow. They talked some, and he ended up taking her home that evening. He asked if he could take her out on a proper date another time. Orchid agreed, and they went out on a Saturday relatively soon after they met. Pillow picked her up, they had a drink or 2 at her apartment, and then they went to a Spanish food restaurant. Orchid was looking to having paella for dinner. She had been to actual Spain and really liked the dish. So, they had a drink at the bar and then were seated for dinner. The menus were quite large, and when you opened them, you couldn't see over them. The waiter came over to take their order. Orchid ordered the paella, and then when it was Pillow's turn, she asked what he would eat. No answer. She put her menu down, and asked again. No answer. Then she pulled away the huge menu and found Pillow passed out cold with his head on the table. Literally unconscious. On the first date.
The Maître D' told Orchid that he couldn't have a passed out patron at the restaurant. So, they helped Orchid get Pillow outside. They sat him down on the curb and she brought Pillow's car around. They got Pillow into the car, and she headed to the Valley. She had never been to the Valley before, so she really hadn't the faintest idea as to where she was going. She decided to drive on the San Diego Freeway (aka the 405) to the Valley, get off at the first offramp and go to a gas station to ask for directions to Pillow's house. She got there safely, and by that time Pillow started to come to. They sat in the car for a few minutes, then Orchid said she'd go in and make him some coffee. As she was getting out of the car, Pillow let her know he wasn't a coffee drinker. He got out of the car and accompanied her into his house. And, proceeded to puke his guts out in the bathroom and pass out on the bathroom floor. Orchid sat on the couch, watched some TV, read the paper, and then was wracking her brain on how to get home. She considered taking his car and then bringing it back the next day. Right before she was ready to leave, Pillow emerged from the bathroom feeling better and ended up driving her home. The cause of the unconscious, puking Pillow was that he couldn't hold his liquor. He was a total lightweight.
I imagine the scene of the passed out Pillow at the restaurant like this, but only in reverse.
She apparently wasn't scared away by that and kept on dating him, and some years later, they married. I was laughing as she recounted this story to me. You can have adventures in dating at any age in any era.
