I had a most unusual dream last night. I met a female hockey referee after a concert and we went out for the “best cup of coffee we ever had.” I was certain I would not have ever picked up a random person at a concert but since she was a hockey referee I knew she had to be a good person. I’m not sure why she was wearing her black and white stripe shirt with the red arm band but fortunately she was so I knew what I was getting into.

In my half-awake state I tried analyzing this one of so very few dreams I ever remembered. I couldn’t make any sense of it so instead I started wondering how people meet others today. Television commercials and on-line pop-up ads and promoted posts would have you believe dating services are the way to go.

Of course dating services are not new ideas. They’ve been around for most of my entire life and we all know that’s a lot of years. Match is probably the most recognized on-line service but it goes back to only 1995. Date Mate might be the earliest recognized computer assisted service but it dates to just 1965. You have to go into the 50s, 1959 actually, to find the first documented dating service when the Happy Families Planning Service matched 59 men and 59 women in a Stanford University class project.

So how did the ancients (you know, those who matched up before Sputnik) find their mates? Even some of us who connected in the age of enlightenment (or during the cold war depending on how you want to remember time) managed to do so without handing over 3 bucks to find the perfect mate. How did we ever do that?

(All Things Clipart)

That gave me the idea to post a survey asking how you connected with your spouse, significant other, life partner, person of interest, paramour, special friend, companion, steady, beau, boo, or better half. But…I don’t know how to add a survey to a post and I really don’t feel like looking it up. And a survey only lets you answer once. You might have had more than one one-and-only over your lifetime. Who am I to deny you the opportunity to remember fondly all your initial hearts aflutter moments? And no matter how many choices I could come up with I’d certainly miss something and be forced to include the dreaded “other” catchall.

So I invite you to tell me what service led you to your match. The ways I thought of might include:

• One of the aforementioned dating services either modern online or classic computer assisted
• A personal professional matchmaker ala Dolly Levi
• A personal amateur matchmaker ala parents, siblings, or exceptionally nebby friends, relatives, or coworkers
• A specific matchmaking activity ala speed dating, singles’ dance, or similar
• Social media typically not affiliated with matchmaking (Twitter following, Facebook groups, old timey chat rooms)
• At school (any level, from nursery school to community college adult education classes)
• At work (while not impeding your ability to provide superior customer service, of course)
• At church, hopefully not during actual services but perhaps after or at a social affair or sponsored activity
• At a bar, tavern, pub, party, or other alcohol fueled social gathering
• At a non-alcohol fueled social activity (there must be something that qualifies)
• On vacation (That could be a non-alcoholic fueled social activity depending on your definition of holiday.)
• At a sporting or athletic event including that Wednesday morning Tai Chi class
• Some random meeting (I met who would become a close companion and still great friend standing in line at an ATM machine.)
• In the produce section at the local grocery store (It’s happened in books, movies, and television shows so it must have happened sometime in real life, no?)
• And the infamous “other”

How did you meet, or would like to meet, or are trying to meet your companion for all your days or a significant portion thereof? Feel free to comment away!