In April 2009, I went on two dates with a very nice guy (let’s call him Science Guy). We actually had some things in common like the fact that we grew-up within minutes of each other, we knew many of the same people and we both worked in science labs at Universities at one point in our lives. However after the two dates, I knew that the relationship wasn’t going forward and I sensed he thought the same thing. So, we said our good-byes and we moved on. I would like to say, THE END but it wasn’t the end.
A few months later I was sitting in church and I thought, “You know what?! Science Guy would be a good match for that single girl I met at church (let’s call her Science Girl).” I then proceeded to talk myself out of the match because really what could I do? The next week, the thought kept coming to me in very strange ways and I finally decided to act upon it.
So, I called Science Guy. At first he was defensive about the fact that he hadn’t called and it had been months since our last date. I quickly reassured him that I wasn’t calling him to somehow “reconnect” and he relaxed a bit. I asked him if he knew Science Girl and he said, “No.” so I told him about the thought that kept coming into my mind and I told him that I would love to set-up a meeting/ date between the two of them. I also might have mentioned how much in common I thought they had and how I thought they would be a great match. He was so nice about the whole thing and thanked me for thinking of him. Then he said that now that I explained to him who Science Girl was, he actually did know her and her sister. He had nice things to say about her married sister and Science Girl so I tried to close the deal. I said, “Well, I REALLY think you should ask her out.” He said he would think about it and I told him that I thought he was a really nice guy and that he deserved a really nice girl and that he should ask her out (I probably told him three times, yes we can say overkill). I think I was pretty blunt and forward but by the end of the conversation I had the feeling that he wasn’t going to call her.
Fast forward almost a year and a half later. I was at a basketball game last week (Go Wizards!) with some friends and Science Girl was there. She was sitting on a different row and I was sitting by a friend of mine who just got engaged (We’ll call her Bling). I was telling Bling about my Employee Referral/ Dating idea and then I told her the story about Science Guy and Science Girl (she knows both of them). She thought about the match for a second and then agreed that it could be a great match. Bling asked me to give her Science Guy’s phone number. She said that she was going to call him and let him know that she thinking about him and that she thought that he would make a good match with Science Girl. (She wasn’t going to tell him HOW she thought about the match.) The next morning I received this text from Bling, “I just talked to Science Guy. He was happy to take Science Girl’s info and ask her out. Yahoo! ……..I hope it works!” (Maybe it will just take two different people giving Science Guy the same idea that will get him to ask Science Girl out.)
So, back to my original theory of matchmaking, dating referrals can be successful and we should try and help others find matches. I think we should all keep our fingers crossed that maybe Science Guy and Science Girl might someday become a Science Family with little Science babies. (Too much?) Well, maybe we can just hope that Science Guy and Science Girl can have a nice dating experience and that this nice dating experience can lead to more confidence for both of them, which can lead to more dates for both of them which will eventually result in a marriage for both of them together or to different people. You just never know.
