Day 14 - Jessica & Jared

Last week I was at work and a delightful patient came to my desk. We started chit chatting as she filled out various paperwork and I realized she was a member of my church. She asked me about life in the singles ward and I told her about this dating project. Then she asked me if I knew her son, and it turns out not only do I know him, but he was on my list of potential guys to ask out on a date!

So with his mom's blessing, I texted Jared on Sunday and asked him out for tonight. (Please excuse my last minute asking, I keep thinking I have plenty of time before the next date and then before I know it I'm scrambling at the last minute. Thank goodness for easy-going guys who are so willing to help me out!!) I was upfront about what I had in mind, dinner and Bingo. I gave him four choices of cuisine, and he happened to pick the one that I secretly wanted SO MUCH, so bonus points for him right off the bat!

Jared was nice enough to come pick me up from my house, which isn't a close drive from where he lives. We then drove 30 minutes to where the restaurant and Bingo hall were located. He looked nice in his button up shirt, and smelled the way boys should smell on a date. Conversation had an easy back-and-forth as we asked each other the standard questions about work, school, and family. Interestingly, Jared has only brothers. I can't remember talking about TR's siblings, but besides that all 3 of my other dates have ONLY brothers, which is especially funny because I'm one of 5 girls. What are the odds? The conversation continued to be easy breezy throughout dinner. We ate at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant (I may or may not be dealing with an addiction to Pho right now, don't judge.) Jared picked up the check without even hesitating, which was so nice and appreciated.

We then drove to the Bingo hall. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the idea of playing Bingo has always seemed so funny to me, and this place delivered. It was hilarious, in a totally awkward, horrible, cigarette-smoke filled way! It was a big warehouse with old, mismatched tables and chairs everywhere. The people there were mostly older, with kind of sad dispositions, just randomly scattered about the tables with very little socialization happening.

 

There were also tables FULL of junk at the front of the hall. Stuff that I can't even imagine would fit in at most Goodwills, but it all had price tags. I was sorely tempted by the pictured doll, but Jared's fear of scary dolls kept me from making that particular purchase. It wouldn't be kind to scare the bajeezus out of my nice date, right?

Jared bought lots of Bingo cards for us and we found seats as far away from smokers as we could, then spread out the cards and were ready to go! Except we weren't. It turned out we had no idea what we were doing. We were frantically using our "dobbers" (I think that's what they're called?) and trying to keep up with the caller, only to be told that it was a warm up game and we weren't even supposed to be playing yet. Round two we were still marking everything that came up and feeling frazzled the whole time. Finally on round 3 we figured out that we only needed to mark a number if it was part of the winning formation for that round, and from that point on we settled into an easy routine

As person after person around us won, I was shocked and appalled at the lack of enthusiasm. People just casually held up their hands, don't mind that a Bingo worker would shortly come verify their win and then plunk down anywhere from $150-$750 CASH right in front of them. The winners weren't even smiling! I tried to get some enthusiastic clapping and cheering going once, but apparently Bingo is serious business and there's no place for frivolity. Jared and I agreed that if we won anything, there would be some serious dancing, shouting, and cheering happening but alas out of all of our cards not even one had a winning BINGO.

We left without winning any money, but can you really put a price on good food, great company, and another great memory for the books? Also, as a bonus, my hair and clothes have a lingering smell of cigarettes and garage sale that I consider an awesome date souvenir. ;-)

 Seriously, I had a great time tonight. I already knew Jared was a good guy, but I was so happy to get to know him even better. I really appreciate his good attitude about everything, and him being such a gentlemen, and his awesome truck. Also, he has pretty great taste in music. I'll end this post with a song that we mutually love (this one's for you Jared, to prove I watched the video, haha). This is Jessica, signing out. Good night to all of you out there!