Lex and the City: Bump, Set-Up, Spike
Why hello there Lexers. I trust everyone had a fun and eventful week. Here at Lex and the City, we spent our time divided between mopping up our home and travelling to neighboring cities. There’s nothing like coming home from an out of town visit to find yourself ankle deep in frat sludge caused by sophomoric drunken stupidity. We’re also still surprised that Snow Storm 2010 is still causing waves around campus (and no we aren’t talking about the 10 inches on the ground, although that’s been a bother too). Again, we’re not at liberty to comment, but whoever coined the phrase “snow only falls downwind” gets our respect and a gold star.
But alas, Lexers, it was when I was enjoying Macados all day Martini Saturday special that my friend and I happened upon an interesting subject: being fixed up. Now if you had asked me a couple of days ago what I thought about friends setting friends up with other friends for romantic purposes, I would have scoffed at you. That only happens in Jennifer Aniston movies and hardly ever successfully. But it was when a friend of mine and I were discussing some specific incidents that we realized we’re getting older and reaching the very demographic those movies are talking about: twentysomethings who want their twentysomething friends to find someone just like they have. So the real question is, in relationships is there room to be set up? When you’re the single friend, how do you handle the inevitable fix-up? In relationships, is a “fix-up” the ultimate fix?
To be honest with you, Lexers, before this weekend I was uncomfortable with the idea of being fixed up. As a relationship expert, I’ve always been of the mind that relationships just sort of happen; no need for a catalyst no matter how pure the intentions. And then it hit me that there is room for the made-for-TV-movie set up, even here in little old Lexington. For starters, your friends know you best. You may not see the potential chemistry between you and someone of the potential dating pool as well as they do. Friends are equipped with that rare objectivity that allows them to spot a potential match for you even before you do.
Gone are the days when being fixed-up meant being sent on a blind date and asked to wait for Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character to come into the bar for an awkward conversation over barely drank cosmos. If your friends have the finesse to pull off a decent swift one, then a fix-up doesn’t have to be awkward at all. Friends planning on swindling their mutual pals, I compel you to try innovative ways of tricking the targets into liking each other. Invite the whole gang out for drinks at Macados or the Southern Inn and arrange the seating arrangement strategically in order to maximize non-awkward interaction between the two being set up (incidentally, set-upee is not a word that is recognized by Microsoft Word. Oops.) Sometimes you have to get even more creative than that. Always have an more aggressive strategy in your back pocket just in case it takes more than one happy hour to unite the lovebirds: plan an after party with games and make sure you dictate the teams and have adequate party favors to pass around. Stranding them in closed quarters is an even more aggressive yet effective way of getting two people to see the raging hormones in each other. Regardless of what you do, make sure it’s effective but not obvious. There’s nothing more awkward than realizing you’re being set up while you’re being set up. I promise you that.
Lexers, as we get older, dating is going to become more and more traditional. When we leave this place in a few short months finding someone on the dance floor and using the pick-up line “do you want some Ramen?” isn’t going to cut it anymore. It’s then that we will rely on our friends to see the best in us and attempt to swindle someone of our liking into see the best in us as well. There’s no shame in it. So embrace the 21st century set up and only hope that the friends doing the setting up are reliable and haven’t been making any under the table deals with fifth year ex-Pikas. That kind of set up is dangerous and has real life consequences. We’re looking for long lasting relationships with people of good moral character, not people with two tears tattooed under their eye. Have a great week Lexers, and enjoy the snow while it lasts. And this time we are talking about the weather.
