Hunting Down Some Summer Lovin'
Ladies of Anti-Austen,Summer has recently hit Provo and that means an exodus has occurred. In my specific situation, that means that my ward's boys apartments have turned into married housing. I heard the count of boys to girls yesterday.....seventeen boys. Forty five girls. The three to one ratio is horrible, but in numbers that low!??? It's atrocious. And here I was hoping for some summer love.
Here's the problem. Our guy friends moved to various other apartment complexes and said we should hang out, but how much can we really hangout without looking too forward? Yes my roommate and I might be interested in them, but now it's way out of the way to visit (and they sure didn't help things when they DID live close). Any suggestions on finding new pools of men would be greatly appreciated. Better luck in your endeavors...
Anonymous
Dear Seeker of Summer Love:
Let me begin with an "I hear ya sister!". I'm sure we all are well aware that, for some reason, the guy to girl ratio in Provo never seems to be to our female advantage. I live in an area that's not quite the hub of BYU student wards, resulting in a lot less turnover, so I have had to get creative about the ways that I meet guys. Here is a list of techniques that have helped me to meet men:
- Make friends with more girls. This sounds counter intuitive, but every girl could be a link to a guy that you wouldn't have met otherwise. Maybe it's a guy that she's not interested in, or maybe she has a handsome cousin, or a coworker, or an elder from her mission. The more she likes you, the more likely she is to introduce you to these men.
- Use your guy friends as keys to more guys. I have a few close guy friends that I'm not going to date, but I am always meeting new guys through. Start hanging out with the guys you know you don't want to date, but still have fun with, and use them for their friends- heck- tell them they need to set you up with some cool dudes.
- For the guys that you're friends with that you maybe do want to date (like the ones you mentioned in your email), no need to go to them all the time, invite them to group activities. Summer has a ton of activities that you can get guys included on. Host a bbq, organize a camping or hiking trip, have a bonfire, get a group to go to Moab for the weekend, get a pass of all passes crew together and hit up Seven Peaks, see what sporting events are happening. Be liberal with these invitations and tell anyone you invite to invite whoever else they would like, and see where you end up <wink-wink>.
- Start volunteering. There are tons of ways to get involved in Provo, you can go to https://yserve.byu.edu/ and find all kinds of opportunities. Not only will you get some satisfaction out of helping people, you'll meet some top caliber men.
- If you're not already, head to your institute. This will get you access to your whole stake. Also, institute hopping is a lot easier than ward hopping, so see if you can tag along with friends in other stakes.
- Go to the grocery store, or Walmart, or Taco Bell. Go late at night when you have groups of guys getting midnight snacks. Make eye contact and smile and see if you get any of them to take the bait. And let's be honest, people's inhibitions are lower late at night. You'll be more likely to get your flirt on, and they'll be more likely to respond to it.
- Lastly, go to everything. Parties, game nights, weddings, movie nights, frisbee in the park, dinner parties, your 5 year old nephews birthday party. The more places you go, the more people you'll meet, the more likely you'll be to have some romantic summer nights in no time.
Those have probably been my most helpful recommendations, but I'm sure that our readers have plenty more! Let's help this chica out shall we?
The Closer
6 comments:
Perhaps get a summer job? I've gotten multiple dates out of work before. One with a coworker (not recommended) but also with a customer. 10 hours a week could introduce you to some great guys, plus some income.
Go to the gym. Go running. I've chatted with guys as we wait for the light to change. The Daily Universe has had some 2 for 1 passes to the Quarry; take a girlfriend and make eye contact with the guy next to you on the wall. And if all else fails, go to the freshman dances and find an RA. (Just kidding.)
Good luck! I'm in a town of 3000 people and a ward of 100. Family ward. You have better odds than I do, sister. =)
A question for the ladies: how many of you intentionally do number 6 [late-night grocery store flirting]? I usually shop at night, and I've chatted with some lovely ladies before [and she was wearing sweatpants and not a whole lot of makeup - yes, I call her lovely. Don't discredit yourselves!] I've felt awkward asking grocery girls for their numbers because I just met them and thought it was weird.
Is it weird? Are you flattered or creeped out?
Go to the nearest family history center. Spend time at the library and check to see if they have college nights. Go to museums. (the Art Museum in Springville has a college night once a month.)
Cities usually have classes you can take like pottery, check them out. Ward hop if you have close friends in other wards.
You can also pray, it sounds a little silly to pray for a date but it works!
Colonel, if you think it would be weird the girl is going to sense that. If you are confidant they will be more likely to respond well. The girl would probably be impressed someone saw past her sweats!
My ward actually has more girls than guys (43 to 57). If you want to visit, drop me a line. I will not post anonymously so you can send me a message. I think the guys here would be happy to have the ratio balanced a little.
Colonel- This blog post I came across is the best explaination on how to know if they are interested, or if you are being a creeper. http://www.eastercloset.com/2012/01/stalkers-vs-creepers-projectionagagin.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EveryDayIsEasterInMyCloset+%28Every+Day+is+Easter+in+My+Closet%29 It is one of my favorite posts in the whole world.
On a more helpful note, I don't think it is bad to give them your number, if they are receptive enough to talk to you for more than a few mins in the grocery store they probably wont freak out on you. :)
We should trade. My spring ward has a 2-1 guys to girls ratio, and I can tell you that we're feeling it.
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