Went To My First Singles Dance

Well, my cousin finally convinced me to take the plunge and go to a singles
dance for the “more mature” crowd. Translation is the 30s through 50s
somethings. Obviously, the majority of single people there are either divorced,
widowed, separated, and most likely parents. Well, that suited me just fine. Even
though my cousin was technically never married or engaged, he was game to go
and help usher me into the singles scene once again. He had been actively dating
different women for years and was very content. I haven’t been “looking” to meet a woman
since my college days. I had been married for at least seven years and going steady
for at least 3-5 years before that. That phrase “going steady” by itself is obviously dating
me as a baby boomer.

I actually felt the odds of meeting someone compatible at these dances was good.
Since, I was a single parent, I wanted to be able to freely talk about my life. Chances
were that the women I would meet there were also single parents and not
shy to talk about their kids either. Believe me, there’s many bar scenes where that
would be a stigma or considered to be extra luggage.

In any case, it seemed surreal to be at this dance. Once again, I haven’t really
even danced since my college disco days. Had it not been for my cousin being there
to talk to, I would have been really awkward since I wasn’t the aggressive type. Don’t
get me wrong, I was a very confident guy, but in terms of other aspects of
my life like work and family. Most of the woman I had long-term relationships with
were friends of friends. So, the intro worked out pretty naturally. I wasn’t much for
the “cold-call-just-walk-up-and-introduce-myself-to-a- stranger-type! Nonetheless,
the goal here was to have fun and, after I had a couple of Vodka Gimlets in me,
the nervousness wore out. It didn’t hurt that my cousin was the very forward type
and had no problem breaking the ice.

We ended up staying there a couple of hours and I got up the gumption to ask a
couple of women to dance and only got rejected once. I had fun and good
conversation with my cousin, so the night turned out to be a nice time after all!