The Dating Files

As the inspiration for this post, I used Chris Clark's "Uncoaching." I really liked the format he used for his essay, with bullet points and section headings. I also liked that he organized his stories as an unofficial advice piece, which is what I tried to re-create in my post.

First off, I need to preface this by saying that I’m no expert. I've just come to realize that I have some experience with the dating scene and from each of these experiences I've learned something about myself and about the male species. I also quite enjoyed delving into my personal journal, re-discovering many of these experiences and I hope that you will enjoy them as well.

PS Names have been changed to prevent potentially awkward moments.

Case #1: The Elusive Co-Worker

o   “Ugh. I do NOT want to get up for work. Wait, I think that HE is working today…” *Cue lightning fast race out of the door.* Am I really that pathetic? Well, yeah. I mean, I’m a cashier at an office supplies store. It’s not like there is really anything exciting happening. Take today for example: “You saved 36 cents on your ream of paper today! Who hoo!” Kill me now. So the only really exciting things are the people that I work with. They are a great bunch. Mostly. But especially Ben. Tall, dark, and handsome has never applied to anyone else so well. I definitely didn’t feel that I deserved his attention, but attention is what I got. We had been working together since fall semester started, but nothing more than some innocent inter-office flirting appeared. It took me receiving a mission call to live in Italy for 18 months to wake him up enough to ask me out in April, only weeks away from entering the MTC. From the outside, it seemed like the perfect night: sushi, a movie, dessert, all in the company of an extremely attractive person. And yet? It fell on deaf ears. Once the mystery was unraveled, the game was over and I was no longer interested in playing. But in every game, there is something to be learned:

·         A) Don’t judge a book by its cover even if the cover can be pretty revealing of the contents

·         B) The forbidden fruit always seems the sweetest, but that can also mean it’s too ripe and won’t last very long

·         Case #2: The Modern Day Romeo 

o   One bright fall Sunday afternoon, I thought I would adventure over to the local single’s ward event. Once a month, the ward holds an event lovingly dubbed “break the fast,” where you can complete your religious duty of going without food and water and search out for an eternal companion simultaneously.  Needless to say, I met a potential at said event. His sparkling blue eyes and wavy blonde locks caught my eye over the hideous orange cooler filled with water. Over the course of the next five days, we played The Game. Unfortunately, it was a short-lived game, as he had to return to the far-away land of Idaho to attend the university. In summary, we met Sunday, had a fake spontaneous date Monday, hung out on Tuesday, texted Wednesday a bit, and said good-bye Thursday, thus my modern-day Romeo. Although this experience was far from important or life-changing, I learned a lot:

·         A) Sometimes ward activities actually are helpful in finding potentials

·         B) Things, such as cars and boys, move really fast in Provo

·         C) Romeo and Juliet is a ridiculous story