Wednesday, January 25, 2017

13. Meet Mr. Right Through Online Dating Part 3


              One thing you must know about me is I am tenacious.  I may appear to complain and poor mouth about things that don’t go my way and I may verbalize giving up but I don’t actually give up.  I am ridiculously optimistic in that respect; I continuously move forward as though things will work out even when I don’t necessarily believe they will.  There is something inside me that won’t give up.  I like to think it is a deep-rooted faith in God and His will.  Although it could simply be I’m as stubborn as The Dad is ornery.

                Case in point, I was not having much luck (as you’ve read) on OKCupid or Match.com or any of the other sites whose commercials lie to you about your chance to find love, when I received a message from someone asking if I was frustrated with OKCupid and, if so, to try Zoosk.  As I was indeed frustrated, I opened a Zoosk account, completed the profile, posted recent photos (unlike most everyone else on the internet) and was pleasantly surprised to find I was asked to video myself talking in order to verify I was indeed the person in the posted photos.  I like me some Zoosk y’all.

                I opened my account the week before Christmas and immediately began chatting with several people.  I spent Christmas in the bustling metropolis of Dayton, Ohio, with my family and was only able to communicate through the site and even then at infrequent intervals as I was very busy shopping, eating, playing cards, reminiscing, laughing and watching a one year-old play with four dogs, one cat and 1,645 toy horses.

                When I returned home, I had a nice date with a Vietnamese gentleman who took me to his favorite authentic restaurant.  Authentic meaning the signage, menu and language spoken was Vietnamese.  I had to ask my date what he ordered me.  Whatever it was, it was delicious but as is the case when I eat authentic Asian food, I suffered gastric distress, luckily only after I was alone in my home post-date, which ended very soon after the meal.  I knew he wasn’t my intended betrothed so I didn’t feel bad fleeing into the night.

                I then agreed to meet a very cute Filipino CPA who is 35 and, like me, fond of non-fiction and Karen Carpenter and not a fan of spicy food and flip-flops.  We had a fantastic afternoon date at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica which lasted for 7.5 hours.  We shared crepes, iced tea, laughs and a long walk with wonderful conversational topics ranging from literature, politics and religion to the British Royal Family, real estate in Mississippi, the proper pronunciation of ‘pecan’ and the definition of ‘boonies’, both in America and the Philippines.  I have never had so much fun achieving my FitBit step goal.  Dates 2, 3, 4 and 5 followed in quick succession.

                This past Sunday he agreed to attend church with me and I warned him, “People are going to want to know who you are. I hope you are prepared for an onslaught of hugs and pointed inquiries as to your role in my life and/or reasons for church attendance.  Oh, and you'll also get a rainbow teddy bear; it's our church's 'thing'.” 
                Ben, his name is Ben, replied, “I’ll just tell them I am your boyfriend and then I’ll just smile.  I’m Asian; they won’t be surprised that I’m quiet.”  My boyfriend, y'all! 

               I am cautiously optimistic that on my list of Ways to Meet Mr. Right, #s 14-26 will be left for someone else’s blog.  Don't worry, I'll keep you all in the loop.

 

1 comment: