Magic Carpet Ride

It was St. Patrick’s Day!  Whaooo! I was heading out like any 26 year old woman, for a wild night of…Catch Phrase.  Yes you herd me.  I live in the beer drinking capital of the USA and I was going to spend St. Patrick’s Day in the basement of an LDS church.  But I had a secret plan.  At this point I was still very Mormon.  I had not done my homework yet.  I was so tired of hanging out with the same people who I really felt no connection too.  I saw online that there was a karaoke bar downtown so I got dressed up and after the 8^th round of physiatrist(a mormon must game)  I excused myself and headed for the bar. 

I was going to do it! I was going to make friends! Friends with people who I have things in common with.  Maybe we would talk about travel, politics, theater, art, Heck I would even talk about sports teams.  I reached downtown. I could not find the bar.  There were other bars so I parked my car.  I could see from where I sat people coming and going. Every bar was packed.  Everyone was laughing and smiling. I saw a group of girls standing outside a Comedy Club. They were together talking a mile a minute and giggling.  One girl dropped her…something and darted into the street to get it. They all mocked her as she ran in front of a car forcing the car to a stop. Some men poked their heads out to say hi and drove off.  At this moment the glass on my windshield felt 12 inches thick.  I wanted so badly to be those girls. I wanted to feel free to mingle and flirt with exciting different people.  I wanted to go to the comedy club but instead I put my key in the ignition and drove home.

Three weeks later I was driving again to downtown. This time it was for a date! A hot one! Online dating has been my only means of meeting people. This was my third date with a non-member. As I pulled into the restaurant parking lot I felt like I had been there before. Dinner was great. He had gotten us tickets to a show and we were late so we had to run. We got there barely in time and took our seat. The show was so funny and he was so excited.  We were walking out of the theater when Deja-vu stuck. I was standing at the very place where I saw those girls three weeks earlier. Warmth bubbled up from inside me.  Maybe I don’t have a bunch of girlfriends but this smoldering bearded fellow would do.  My date reached for my hand and offered to give me a tour of the area.  I felt like I was in Disneyland. I was doing it! I just wanted to be a part of their world and for the first time it felt possible.