He was a little nervous.

They’d never met, but he had heard all about her from his father, who was good friends with her uncle.  She was an elementary school teacher, which gave them some common ground (he was a college professor).  He had no idea what she looked like, only a vague description that didn’t lend itself to a full mental image.  But he had decided to give the blind date a shot, and walked up the steps to her front door with a spring in his step.

The house looks nice, he mused, extending a finger to press on the doorbell.  That’s a good sign.  The sound of feet coming down a flight of stairs grew louder, as the door opened.  He could see an older
woman peeking out at him through the screen door.  “Hi, I’m Ben*.  I’m here to pick up Stacy* for the evening-“

And before he could get another word out, the door was slammed in his face.

I know this story well.  I’ve heard it all my life.  After all, it’s the beginning to the story of how my parents met.

Now, it’s not as long and involved as some other stories about couples meeting, but it’s an important one all the same.  And the key detail, besides that my grandma slammed the door in my dad’s face before he took my mom out to dinner on their first date, is that it was a blind date.

Photo Credit: Getty Images – Brand X Pictures

My best friend’s sister met her husband through an online dating service.  A good friend and his fiancé met at a singles mixer.  A former co-worker met her boyfriend at speed dating.

The point is, love and relationships can come from everywhere.  There doesn’t have to be a stigma about where it’s from.

I’m no expert on love, relationships or dating.  Once, I somehow wound up helping to teach a few dating classes, but my experiences on love are more limited to a love of Taco Tuesdays, for example.  Or a love of seeing comments pop up on my blog.

So instead, I’m pulling from other peoples’ love lives.

According to my ex-roommate’s ex-girlfriend’s parents’ marriage counselor (who has never been married), this gives me an outsider’s look into relationships, and makes me a more objective assessor of their stability, chances for success, and so on.  But that doesn’t really seem to work.

I’ve seen different examples from friends, family, TV, movies and books.  I’ve experienced a strong sense of like and a great deal of lust.  But seeing and doing are two different things.  And it’s not like everyone has the same relationship.

Sure, there are the usual clichés that most relationships fall into, but taking relationship advice, be it from me or one of Dr. Phil’s books, seems silly.  Heck, the example that Tim Ferriss used in The Four-Hour Workweek on becoming an expert in under two months was about his friend becoming a “relationship expert.”

So when it comes to love, you don’t have to take anyone’s advice.

Just enjoy it.

It can start from anything – even a blind date.

*These are not my parents’ names.  They preferred that I keep their identities out of this post.  Both of them are the only two people left in the world without a trace of personal information online, and I don’t want to take that away from them.

All You Need Blogger: Andrew Weitsman

Andrew helped run a few dating workshops until he realized that he should stick to teaching and writing what he knows, which is business, pop culture, and random factoids. He blogs at Needle Meet Haystack. This past November, his parents celebrated their 32nd anniversary.

Song: Frank Sinatra – My Funny Valentine

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