First and Last Date

Well, I had a date last Friday.
Who knew that right out of the gate I'd be presented with an ethical dilemma?

I had been chatting with this guy for a few days when he asked to meet for drinks.
He seemed nice enough, we had a few things in common, and for all intents and purposes, he seemed pretty promising.

We had planned to meet up at a bar on the East Side. It was not a bar I'd ever choose to take a first date to unless I was back in college, wanted to get hammered on $1 PBR's, and enjoyed bathrooms with sticky, gross floors.
No, thanks.

He was a half hour late. I get it - rush hour traffic and all. But, I was the one to contact him 10 minutes after he was supposed to arrive. And THEN he told me he was stuck in traffic.

Once he showed up (and here's where the ethical dilemma comes in) it was very clear that he had a physical disability.

Now, I completely understand that the next things I'm about to say could make people think that I'm a terrible and intolerant person interested in only the superficial.
If you know me, you know that's not true.
If you don't, then go ahead and think what you will.

As soon as I recognized that he was the person I was supposed to meet and noticed his disability, I was no longer interested in dating him.

I spent a lot of time thinking about the date and my reaction to it this weekend. My first thoughts were, why didn't he disclose this ahead of time?  Then I thought, that's not really fair of me to expect him to tell me up front.
I felt like an asshole for not being able to see past a disability.
But, I also felt that I was put in a weird situation by not being given the whole picture ahead of time.
I know, I know, he's dealing with his own situation and his life probably isn't easy all the time.

It's a strange situation that all I can do is take as a learning experience.

I've learned that it's important to me that a prospective partner be able-bodied.
I've decided that I'm not a terrible person for wanting that.
I've also learned that I could be surprised by something every time I go to meet a new guy and just need to be prepared for anything that happens.

Apart from my immediate dismissal of a potential relationship with this guy based on his physical abilities, there were other problems that made it easier to decide not to pursue anything further with him.

1. He was late and it didn't cross his mind to let me know he was going to be late. That's just inconsiderate.

2. He told me he bought a house recently. Not with money he had saved by working hard, but with funds provided for by his parents.  This is, and always will be, a deal breaker for me.

I'm at a stage in my life where I depend on no one financially, except myself. I expect a potential partner to have the same ideals.  It's not cute to expect your parents to bail you out because you haven't planned properly or have them pay for some big expense just because you want it and can't afford it yourself.

3. His jokes were lame

4. He didn't strike me as someone who was really career oriented and also seemed to lack the drive that I have.

After re-reading my thoughts, it might seem like I gleaned a whole bunch of insight from only a couple hours of chatting, but I have always felt that I'm a good judge of character and will continue to trust my intuition.

This one turned out to be a dud.
Oh, well... Onward and upward, I guess!