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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

I'm now addicted to Starbucks green tea

Remember a while back I mentioned that I was conducting tutor sessions with one of my students at a McDonalds? Well we have since moved up in the world. Happy Meal hour became less appealling, and a few weeks ago, we moved up the road to a Starbucks. The whole tutor-at-roadside-establishment business strikes me as not the ideal, but I just blame it on him for living in the boonies...

Anyway, this Starbucks we've been meeting at is actually a pretty cool place for such things. In fact, I've noticed that many of the other patrons are there to study, conduct interviews, work on group projects, and .... blind meet up?

Maybe not so much the blind meet up part, I just experienced one such thing last week.

My student and I were sitting there, tuting away. He was doing a short quiz, and I was acting busy when I noticed a man walk in. He approached a woman who was sitting by herself.

She stood up, and they went through this, sort of, "Hi, I'm Jane. Are you Tarzan?" ritual (names have been changed). They hugged and each seemed a tad bit nervous. They then made their way out.

It seemed clear to me that the two were on a date. It also seemed clear that they had never met in person before. Possible internet dating match? Both were in their young 30's I'm guessing, nice looking enough.

My student was still quizzing away, so I watched as they left. Both had a bit of nervousness and unsureness in their expressions. One thing I noticed is that Jane, while not an overly large woman, was taller and just "bigger" than Tarzan. Again, she was attractive and appropriately dressed - jeans, leather jacket and boots, cute jewelry. Tarzan was a bit on the short side for a man and could've used a little more meat on his bones - just my own assessment - but a nice enough looking guy. He was also in jeans and a leather jacket.

I've heard some horror stories from people who have tried online dating sites, and this meet up I witnessed actually didn't look too bad. It struck me to wonder if the uneasiness I sensed in each of their faces was about the "size issue". Don't people give physical descriptions of themselves before meeting in real life?

Personally? Me? I prefer the man be taller than me. It's never been much of an issue since I'm 5'5". And, just to include an issue Jerry brought up recently, I also prefer that the man makes more money than I do. Not a big deal on that one and probably just my old fashionedness showing.

I'm wondering how others feel about these things. I'm also wondering how that date went.
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9 comments:

Anita said...

When I was dating, I preferred a taller man. But, I still got attention from men my height (a pinch short of 5'8") or shorter...maybe because my build is narrow and not intimidating.
Friends who "saw" us made comments about height, and I guess I couldn't get past it, especially if the man seemed self-conscience.
The money - he needed equal or better, because again, many men seem to value themselves based on their income. They seem more secure if they earn more money than the woman.
But...I can think of two married couples where the woman is MUCH taller than the man, and in one case, she earns twice what he earns.
Looking forward to your next Starbucks sighting. :)

Judy said...

Considering I'm not working, I certainly hope the man's making more money than me! HA! Actually, our "grand plan" involves a possible quit for Scott when I go back full time. That should be interesting.

And yeah, I like my men a tad taller than myself (Scott's a good 10" taller than I am).

agg79 said...

Coming from the other side of the table, my opinion may not matter all that much, but I like to think I could handle someone taller than me. Although, at 6'03", there may not be many that fit that bill, I still find it interesting to meet someone I can see "eye to eye" with.

As for money, by all means, please go ahead and earn more than moi. I started out as an Army officer and my wife was an engineer which automatically earned her the higher paygrade. These days, I'd much rather have the income.

Whodat? said...

Saw "Julie & Julia" the other night. Talk about yer tall women...

brandy101 said...

Gosh the only blind dates I went on were via a local funky/hipster newspaper called "The Chicago Reader" - they have a "matches" section. Sometime in late January, as a Valentine's day promo they offered a free ad for a week. For fun (I was single and looking so why not?) I did one. You then get a voicemail code and can check the responses and choose who you reply to. One guy I went out with took me to a cool restaurant but was just creepy somehow. ANother guy took me on a really cool date, and I sort of liked him enough for a 2nd date...until he mentioned he was going to go home and do coke with his buddies. YECH!

You have to be sooooo careful these days.

brandy101 said...

Gosh the only blind dates I went on were via a local funky/hipster newspaper called "The Chicago Reader" - they have a "matches" section. Sometime in late January, as a Valentine's day promo they offered a free ad for a week. For fun (I was single and looking so why not?) I did one. You then get a voicemail code and can check the responses and choose who you reply to. One guy I went out with took me to a cool restaurant but was just creepy somehow. ANother guy took me on a really cool date, and I sort of liked him enough for a 2nd date...until he mentioned he was going to go home and do coke with his buddies. YECH!

You have to be sooooo careful these days.

Goes by the name of Anna said...

Hah, the only time I was asked out by guy taller than me, I turned him down (for, erm, un-height-related reasons!).

I mean, taller than me would be nice, but when you're 5'11" you tend to learn not to get too hung up on height. That said, I do prefer roughly my height or taller (the boy thing is 5'10" and that works just fine).

Adam said...

Internet dating's certainly made it easier, but of course isn't without its risks....it's an interesting new concept, for sure.

Me, I usually meet the girls I date by accident...

Unknown said...

I love that there's a bit of old fashionedness in you :D