Dating pool

I think I'm getting a rep at work that I really don't want.

I've been working for just about four months now and I have met two co-workers for what some people would term "lunch dates". Big whoop? I like people, I like food. And at this stage of my life, work is a very viable option to meet people, especially with a such a large and diverse candidate pool. But that's besides the point. "Ellen" is a fellow twinkie who would really make my dad happy, but we're just friends. At some point in the future I will ask if she has any younger sisters. The other was nice, but chemistry not so much. Which means that the third time's the charm, right?

I met "Summer" this past Tuesday while waiting in line to get a new ID badge. Actually, it was me, Summer and this older woman riding in the elevator to the security office, but I knew that it was going to be at least 20+ minutes of waiting in line and I thought to myself, I would much rather make conversation with cute blond over the middle-aged woman any day of the week. So this is where my biologically-mandated instincts takes over and I sprint-dash in front of the older woman to stand next to Summer. Basic small-talk consisting of waiting, eye-rolling, " it's taking forever", " that's a cool pin you're wearing", "what department are you in?", "Hi, I'm Mike", "Oh, I started in January too", "I live two miles from you", "we should grab lunch". Yada, yada lunch is set up for the end of the week.

Friday: Ideally, a first date consists of two people going out to some sort of place/event, where both parties engage in conversation and consume some sort of sustenance. Due to rain and the nature of our encounter, this ended up being in the office caf sitting with 6 fellow co-workers. Oddly enough we have a mutual acquaintance Rich, who works in my dept. and is roommates with her friend. As we were about to snag a nice table by the window, trays in hand, Rich says that we should all sit together, "unless you want to be alone?" He's a friendly guy, he didn't know. Talk about salting your game.

Things actually went pretty well. Now she knows that I have more than 24 minutes of material and I know that she is capable of carrying on non-linear conversations. We even split a peanut butter cookie. I think I'm going to see if she wants to take a walk Tuesday afternoon.