I used to tease crankypants and tell him that all his friends were imaginary, because I never got to meet them. Hell, by this point, he's met nearly all the important people in my life.. but I never got to meet his. To be fair, none of them live in LA or Virginia, so it made things sort of difficult. At least, not until recently. This weekend, we drove up to DC to have dinner with his friend Harold.

Harold is definitely a character. He now goes by Will, his given name (Harold being his middle name). Beforehand, crankypants kept muttering to himself, I mustn't call him Harold, he goes by Will now, it's Will. Yeah, that didn't last very long. When Harold/Will met us at the restaurant, it was all, "Harold, how are you?" Harold/Will also "acquired" himself a date (his words) for the night. Her name is Eleanor. She was darling, and sweet, and definitely a sport, since he approached her Thursday night at a bar and said, "You're cute. My name is Will. Want to go out with me, and my friend and his girlfriend this Saturday?" And then her first date with him not only included us, but talk about politics, football, prostitution, engagements rings, and Harold/Will's crazy ex-girlfriends. Many of his stories also centered around instances when he was drunk, or Elliot, their "child molestor" friend. (Elliot has a penchant for girls that are barely 18, and hotel maids.) Yes, every topic that probably shouldn't be brought upon a date, especially the first date.

Also, within the first 15 minutes of meeting him, Harold/Will asked us when we were getting hitched. This kind of talk makes crankypants very nervous. It's almost as bad as when he sees ads for tampons and Monistat on television. But did Harold/Will let up? Oh no. As often as he could, he mentioned marriage, living together, our children, and other topics along that vein. He even prodded Eleanor into ask me about one of my rings and who bought it for me, and when I didn't respond quickly enough, he turned to crankypants and said, "Have you bought her jewelry yet? You've been going out so long! It's time to hit Tiffany's and Harry Winston." The sad truth is that I bought the ring for myself for my birthday last year. Ah, it's really too bad we don't see more of Harold/Will. He is everything that a girl could hope for in a meddling friend.