Blind dates R' Us

My friends and I sat and laugh for over an hour last night sharing our best blind date experiences. No, not going on dates with the visually impaired, but with dates well-meaning-folks tend to do when they meet a single folk like us.

I must admit, after several bad experiences, I've made it my own personal policy to never again go on a blind date. One, because I consider that I am more than capable of finding a date myself, and Two, I would really rather not pay for someone else's future wife.

The last blind date I ever went on was while I was in Japan. My friend insisted that I should meet her friend living in Tokyo. After a couple or so days of her insisting, I finally gave in and decided "Why Not? The least I could do is see Tokyo". I took a 5 hour shinkansen (bullet) train, then a 2-hour train ride to meet up with her. I was tired and beat by the time of our date.

We had dinner and saw Tokyo's nearby towns. It was tangibly uncomfortable for both of us. But overall, we managed to enjoy each others company. I think we laughed at our friends more for trying to set us up together. We emailed each other after but nothing more than a platonic friendship came out of it.

Here are just a few of the experiences from last night's conversation:

- being set up with a girl that is over 6 foot tall and quite bigger than the guy. (Yup, it's happened to me more than once)

- getting headbutted by a girl because she thought the guy was putting his arm around her to kiss her. He was reaching to lock the door. (This happened to the other guy last night)

- being repeatedly told by your date: No, don't say that. No, don't do that. Don't act like that. (Me again)

- having your date be on the cell phone all night. (This happened to one of the girls)

But I think this one topped it all:

A friend of mine (identified only as Not Desperate) got stuck on the plane for 4 hours due to the bad weather condition. As the plane sat on the tarmac, one of her colleague's happened to be on the plane also. We'll call her Wanna-be-Cupid.

When WBC thought it would be great to set ND up with WBC's brother, ND graciously said no but suggested her other friend (What-A-Friend) could go instead.

So, here we go.

What-A-Friend went to meet Wanna-be-Cupid's brother at the meeting place. She didn't realize that the guy was a lot shorter than her and that the date had an overall theme. Are you ready for this? "Being Engaged".

We couldn't stop from laughing!

There were also at least 10 other couples there (I don't remember the exact number she said but lets leave it to plenty). Each guy and girl had a name of a celebrity couple written on a piece of paper on their backs. They were then supposed to ask each other questions until they "found" their "date", or their better-half.

After "finding" each other, they went to a table to "plan" their wedding. They had bridal magazines and everything else needed for their engagement and their eventual wedding. And I can't forget that the guy was trying to hold WAF hands all night. I guess the guy was more into the theme than What-A-Friend was.

After "bridal" shopping and planning their "wedding", they had dinner, guest speakers and a dance. And the guest speakers were a couple who married "later" in life. Needless to say, What-A-Friend, decided to leave. Did I also forget to mention that she drove herself to meet the so called blind date?

We had a hoot laughing hysterically as she shared this experience. Now if the group were high school or younger, or even a group of friends that know each other pretty well, I could maybe understand the theme. But this was not the case as the group were young professionals almost in their 30's.


I guess it's only funny to us who get set up by well meaning strangers or at times by friends who think we are lonely being single and family members who think our child bearing age is reaching the midnight hour. But to help others who are thinking of setting their single friends later on a blind date, and seriously cause a riff on their relationship, here's one tip you should never forget:

* Please make sure that the person you are thinking of setting your single friend with has more in common besides being single and having a pulse.

If you need more suggestions, here is something that might help. I hope that you can take the time to watch this. President Dieder F. Uchtdorf recent address to the young and single members of the LDS Church.

http://www.lds.org/broadcast/ces/0,7341,395,00.html