PRACTOR'S PROMISE

In the past two or three months, I have been approached by 4 girl friends (2 married and 2 single) asking me if I would be willing to “meet” a female friend of theirs. Now, I’m not sure why this is all happening at once or at this time, but it is. Strange. I wonder if I have that kind of walk and head bob while I walk that says “Me. ME! That’s ME! I’m the one you read about in the paper that will do whatever it takes to get married!!” Actually, I’ve had women come up to me or my roommate and say “Find me a man!”

And many people in the last update were confused about the dating service. So let me tell you how it works.

A woman in DC (I say woman because no men have come to us either because men, on average tend to be more insecure about such things or the fact that DC has large amount of men compared to women in the 20-30 and 30-40ish range) will contact me (or us) and say, “I’d like to join your service.” Then we meet up for dinner, and the only fee we charge is the meal. So over my free meal (I don’t enforce it of course) she tells me what she wants. I take notes. At this point she has the option of using our personality assessment which includes the same 29 dimensions of personal compatibility as Eharmony but we include 6 more for a total of 35. In fact, the 6 dimensions are personality dimensions of incompatibility because, as our motto goes and as grandma taught us in woodshop, “You’ve got to rough up two pieces of sandpaper before you can glue them together.” She doesn’t have to (and no one has used it to date).

We then set her up with someone in one of 7 ways.

1. The traditional Blind Date
We call you up and say “Hey, be at Farmer’s Market at 7 PM on Saturday. He’s wearing a blue shirt and looks like me.”

But sometimes that’s a little unnerving for people. So we offer a low-stress version of the same thing.

2. The Blind Group Date
This is the same thing but it is a blind double date or a blind triple date. I and/or Praj will take another girl or two and join you. Or you could invite two friends or four friends you know to join you in your blind date to ease the tension.

Still, the fact that you are paired with some person (man or woman) whom you just met makes some people unsettled. So we offer another option.

3. The Group Outing
In this case, there is not an equal number of guys and gals (I didn’t say girls) or men and women. For instance, it will be 5 gals and 6 boys or 7 women and 4 men. So the feeling of being paired romantically falls away (hopefully) and you can get to know someone in peace.

Yet again, some people are unhoused by the prospect of meeting the person face to face even in a group outing. They prefer something else.



4. Faceless Communication
In this case, you are put in contact with a potential date through e-mail, telephone, videophone, text-message, and instant message (any other instant, e- or video- methods you can imagine). This is quite comfortable for some because they want to get to know someone in a hyper romantic state before a personal face-to-face meeting.

But for those who think love is so superficial and they think they are really into the heart of a man or woman, have we got a test and option for you.

5. The Literal Blind Date
This is where you come to our house for dinner and you dine. The only difference is that the windows are all blacked out and no light is let in. The lights inside are off and we use infrared goggles to serve you your food. You get to know the personality and voice of your date, but that’s about all. We have ways to black out the bathroom so you can be guided there and use it in peace with the lights on but without light escaping into the room. It’s phenomenal. Let’s see if love really IS blind. :-/

Nervous are you? Well, we have another version.

6. The Literal Blind Group Date
This is the same blind date at our house, but it is done as a double blind blind date or a triple blind blind date. It’s quite fun!

7. The Mixer
In this case, let’s say you’re a boy. You enter our house and there are 12 or 13 girls. People don’t like this scenario and prefer the gender-reverse. So let’s pretend (or maybe it’s true that) you’re a woman. Then you come to our house for drinks and talking and schmoozing with 12 or 13 guys. At the end of 1.5 hours, you choose one guy with whom you can go out on a funded date (did I say this was a non-profit. We might even be in the red!).

Even with a funded date, some women find too much focus and energy directed at them, and it is hard to handle. So if you prefer, we have another option.

8. The Mixed-up Mixer
This is the same thing but if you are a woman meeting 12 or 13 guys we throw in 3 or 4 other women to help defray some of the energy. So the guys have other people to talk and mingle with while waiting to meet you. This makes some clients feel better and not as anxious about the whole affair even though she has her pick.

In general the name of the game is personalization. We personalize the experience. In other words, it’s what the client wants. If the client wants a service we don’t offer, we start offering it. But we do whatever the client finds comfortable. Because it’s not about us; it’s about you!