Friday, May 25, 2007

Shabbat is Coming

Well, shabbat is descending over our fair city of Pisgat Ze'ev. I have to apologize to my throngs of readers, all 20 or so of them, for my lack of posting lately, as I've been busy with Shavuot and work, and juggling yeshivah studies and work. But there are exciting posts coming, and I've been editing pictures for posting from my recent adventures around the country.

Meanwhile, I've been busy with work and trying to find a date, and I'm noticing some parallels between both. I hate to say it, but dating can really be a drag sometimes. You get your hopes all high, and then she's not interested, and not returning your phonecalls. I always make a point to call back within 24 hours (or, if the date is on Shabbat, then immediately after.) I also have a policy of only going out with one girl at a time, to the point that I don't entertain offers until I'm sure I'm single again. My third policy is to go out at least twice, and try for three, before continuing on. The problem is, if she's not interested, she usually doesn't call back for at least 24 hours. So all the while, I'm stuck in limbo. If, after 24 hours, I haven't heard back, then I call again, and, if I get a message, I just say something along the lines of, "Hi, this is Ephraim again, given that you haven't returned my call, I'm gonna have to assume you're not interested. If I'm wrong, then please let me know," and end it at that.

Sometimes it can be a lot of work. And like work, when I'm in the thick of it, I sometimes want to take a little break. But as soon as I start my break, I go for about five minutes before realizing that I'm just wasting my time. It's strange, to sit here dreaming of all the things I need do once I'm done with work. Clean up, finish my taxes, research car insurance, etc. But then, once I'm out of work, I'm so freaked out to be without work, wondering how on earth I'm going to find a car, that I start calling around and asking for more right away. Same goes for dating. When I'm in the thick of it, I want some relief from the stress. But once it's over, I'm like, "Man, I better get it together because I'm totally without shidduch."

Hey, wait a minute... did I just go off on a stream-of-consciousness tangent in that last paragraph? Why, that's just like the way girls talk on dates. Wow, it's really rubbing off.

Well, now I've got 3 minutes till Shabbat, so I can leave all those worries for the weekday.

Shabbat shalom.

1 comment:

Ephraim said...

Calling back within 24 hours would freak you out, eh? Odd, at yeshivah, they told me that you are expected to call back within 24 hours. at the end of the date, I like to say, "I'll call you back tomorrow." If she needs time to make up her mind, then I wait another 24 hours, for a total of 48 hours.

BTW, so far, EVERY time that she has needed another 24 hours to decide, the decision has come out as "NO."

The reason for restricting one's self to dating one at a time is that the grass is always greener on the other side of the hill. I.e., when I'm with one, I'll be wondering about the other one. Much better to take an unbiased view.

Good memory about the 200 girls, that was my cousin Shmulik. Of course, he dated for like seven years. And he's hareidi, in their world it can be two a week. By my calculations, for me to date two hundred, at the rate I'm going, would take 11.2 years.