My Pimp: The CIA Agent

So, nearly everyone I know seems to have gone on at least one blind date-it's almost like a rite of passage. Usually, those blind dates turn out to be duds although there's the occasional happily ever after ending.

I went out on my one (and only) blind date a few years ago. My blind date story is pretty random.

Rewind a few years back . . .

So it was summer and I had just left the job from hell. I had been itching to leave since week one but everyone told me to stick it out for at least a year. Anyhow, having put that misery behind me, I was enjoying my summer doing everything I had wanted to do but had been too afraid to do. I realized that one hidden blessing of a bad job is that it makes you grateful for the little things in life-like not having to track down college kids on their way to class (but that's a whole other story). I took a trip up to SF, went on a hot air balloon ride by myself, hiked half dome in Yosemite, and went white water rafting. As the summer drew to a close, I decided I should do something productive to balance out all my playing and self-indulgence so I checked out a career fair.

Walking around the fair, it was pretty bland-nothing popped out at me. As I was on my way out, I heard someone call out "Hey, come check us out." I turned around to see a tall cute guy smiling at me. He was dressed in black and was standing behind a table with the sign "CIA." Hesitating half a second, I decided "What the heck?" and made my way over to his table. The female CIA recruiter who was standing next to him gave me a "What the heck does she think she's doing here?" look. I almost laughed beause I could tell she was looking at me and thinking that I looked like the last person who would be or could be a CIA agent.

Ignoring the randomness of our encounter, I turned to my adorable greeter and shyly asked, "So how do you like what you do?" He grinned and said enthusiastically, "I love it! I'm Jason by the way." He was unpretentious and his energy was infectious. "I was actually an elementary school teacher before I started doing this." "Really?" I asked incredulously. I had difficulty picturing any CIA agent reading kids stories and playing with them during recess. "I know it's random but I really loved working with kids. But I love this even more. It's sort of cheesy but I feel like I get to challenge myself on all levels-physically and mentally." I was completely intrigued by this guy and could probably have listened to him talk forever. Eventually, we ended the conversation and as we said our goodbyes, he gave me his card and told me contact him if I had any questions.

Later that week, as I told my friend Sylvie about Jason, I kept debating whether to email him or not. I had been disappointed when he didn't ask for my number but I liked him too much to give up that easily.

Shamelessly, I sent a carefully composed email to him asking him if he'd be willing to meet for lunch so I could pick his brain about becoming an elementary school teacher. Never mind that that was the farthest thing from the truth. I reasoned that it was half-true because I was in a transitional career phase.

I was elated when he responded the next day and we planned to meet for lunch the following week.

When I saw him again, he was even cuter than I remembered. As we started talking about his experiences teaching, I was only half-listening to him when I heard him drop a BOMB. "So my wife is in her teaching program right now," he said. HUH? How had I missed THIS? I tried to hide my disappointment and smiled tightly. "That's great!" I said although my feigned enthusiasm sounded fake even to my own ears.

Of course it only made sense. He was in his early 30s. Cute. Exciting. Why wouldn't he be taken? Even so. Then he dropped another bomb on me. "Hey, are you dating anyone right now?" "Why?" I asked, cautiously. "Well, I have this friend who would be perfect for you. He's a great catch. He's smart, successful, and a really good guy. We went to high school together and I would love to set you guys up."

I didn't know what to say. 2 bombs during 1 lunch was a little more than I could take. Somehow, I managed to smiled at him and shrugged, "Ok, why not."

"Great! I'll give him your number so you guys can set something up."

Talk about a mess. How had I managed to get the guy I was interested in set me up on a blind date??