Adventures in Dating By Gigi Flores and Helen Obispo

The eternal question is not necessarily what is the meaning of life, but WHERE CAN I MEET A GOOD MAN/WOMAN?!!

Gigi hadn’t seen her friend Amaya in more than a year. Amaya’s pregnancy and then having to take care of a little baby girl has kept her very busy. Yet she has kept in contact by phone, email, and facebook, and has continued to hear and finally read about Gigi’s adventures. A few weeks ago, Gigi finally got to see her and meet her adorable daughter.

Immediately, Amaya went off on Gigi, “¿Pero DONDE encuentras a estos hombres…?” (WHERE do you find these men?). Gigi had Amaya in stitches telling her about the last few men she’s met online: making Amaya very grateful she met her husband early on, and that they are still very happy together (Read the success story of the week).

Amaya told Gigi that she needed to look for men in places other than bars and dating sites (really!!!???!!!), which gave Gigi the idea for the dating tip this week: Where on earth to find men (and women)!!

From Gigi: Gigi found this one out on her own last week, when her son Shane asked her to take him to a batting cage. She took a book with her, thinking she could spend the time reading, but then realized that there were many men there with their sons, and that it was the perfect place to look all femaly helpless and flirt!! Soon she had a dad showing her how to work the machine that sends the baseball hurtling towards her son.
Now Gigi is not very religious (Cathollic mother and Jewish father, neither of whom practiced their religion too much), but she went to church with her friend Helen and Helen’s son Gideon, and realized that maybe one could meet a nice man here. Surely he would be more honorable than men met on dating sites or bars, right?
Another idea is to join a gym. Now I’m not sure if this is the best place to flirt, considering you’ll be all yucky and sweaty and not looking your best, but you never know!!
You can always go bowling or to a pool hall. You’ll see many men playing with friends, and you can flirt and make eye contact, and ask for their advice on how to shoot pool or bowl correctly. Gigi did this just the other day, and it went quite well.

From Helen: Hell if I know… (But then she did come up with some good ideas): Libraries, coffee shops and book stores are great places to meet men. Gigi and Helen have been to several, and bring their laptops to write. They’ve flirted with a few nice looking men, but no one ever asked for their phone numbers, so I’m not sure how good of a place this is, if you’ll never see them again.
You can meet single dads at play centers/jungle gyms. Just make sure they are not married!!

From Le’Ro: Come on over to where I work: Home Depot. Just dress all girly, and flirt with any of the contractors picking up supplies. (This really works. Once I visited Le’Ro where he works, and in less than half an hour, I was approached by 3 men, and asked for my number twice. Helen used to work at a place like this, and she attracted a lot of men).

From Amaya: Sign up for a creative writing class at a recreation center or community college. Sign up for community work. Ask your married friends to throw a party and invite all their single friends (Now this is a GREAT idea!!).

From Susan: She gave Gigi a newspaper that had a whole list of events for singles, so check out local newspapers. Take a friend so you are not alone (preferably a single friend!!). It even lists singles clubs (I added all these singles websites under the website tab at the top of the page).

From Tawny: I’d like to know this answer too. I’ve tried dating sites, singles dances, but I refuse to go to church just to meet someone.

From Rachel: At house parties and on face book.

From Kelly: There are a lot of single people, but not quality ones!! I dunno where to meet them!! (Kelly is about as ready as Gigi in giving up on finding someone, so please HELP us find good places to meet quality single people!!).

From Dionne: You’re asking the wrong person… lol… Ask the others, but tell everyone to exclude night clubs or bars. Let’s see what we get!!

From Sarah: If it’s not a dating site, then I’d say it was a good idea to do something you really like: taking cooking lessons, attending a book club… chances are you might meet single people who enjoy the same stuff you do

From Jennifer: I met my husband in church (and they are still married many years later) of all places. Makes me sound really good too. LOL Sarah is right though. Go places that interest you or that would interest the sort of guy you want to date.

From Belinda: Bars, speed dating, sporting events… that’s what I hear. I am really the last person you should ask about this stuff

From Lizzie: Ha! Ha! “giggle” Hee! Hee! Hee! You’re asking US where to find singles> Ok ok… work (the whole building, not just your office/sector/department. Other single friends.

From Damon: The supermarket… at the meat department. You might get a hunk lol.

From Jenna: Not from match.com LOL

From Shari: I haven’t really gone out anywhere in search of a single guy… so I’ve been asking others who came. They came up with: bars, clubs, and the mall. I’ve also heard that the grocery store and the laundromat. today there was a cutie at the auto parts store. lol So I guess you could throw that in there. There are tons of single guys at school too. A friend met hers at a sporting goods store.

From Ariana: Work, school church would be on the top of my list. Dance classes, not the dance floor unless partying is on top of your list. The mall is another place to find people.

From Tara: Hotels. The perks are great, the travel awesome, and the time alone can often help.

From Pamela: Typical meeting someone in a disco or a bar, but I met my hubbie at the Animal Refuge. He was working there and I was a voluntary worker. Our home is now a sort of a branch of the refuge… 5 dogs, 6 cats, 2 pigeons and a parrot

In the old days people met their spouses at high school or college, got married young, and stayed married though thick and thin. Today people get divorced very quickly, get bitter, and then do not seem to want another serious relationship.

It seems as though many of us single people have absolutely NO idea where to meet other single people. The online dating websites are like looking for a needle in a haystack. Most people on there say they want a relationship, but really only want sex. I think that our married friends should help us single people. Throw us a party and invite all the single people you know!! We’ll invite you to the wedding then, and give you full credit!!