Sparks After Midnight

I’m curious to know what you all feel about finding potential dating partners at parties or bars late at night. My mom always told me growing up that nothing good happens after midnight. She actually started with nothing good happens after ten, but once she realized that logic wasn’t going to keep me from going out at night, she pushed it to midnight. I tend to agree with her thought process. At any party I have ever attended, most of the attendees are slightly drunk, very drunk, or blacked out by about midnight. With that being said, can you find a love interest with actual staying power at a party/bar? I’m talking about actual dating with dinners, movies and sober talks. One-night stands do not count.

My parents actually met in a bar. If I recall the story correctly they were introduced by a mutual friend at one of the local joints in town. My mom even went home that night and told a friend (or her mom?) that Harry Ferguson was the one. I don’t always listen to every detail of mom's stories, so my recount may be a little fuzzy, but it was definitely a bar and that thought did cross her mind. My mom never mentioned my dad pounding back seven beers before they began to get to know each other, and she never said she had taken four shots to calm her nerves, so I’m left to assume that they were both slightly sober when this meet and greet took place. So my next question comes into play…do you have to be sober to find a potential match with staying power?

I would say yes. In my experience, I have never met anyone that I found “dating attractive” while at a party. Think about all of the problems that occur at parties. Beer is spilling everywhere; you can barely hear yourself speak over the loud speakers, and that potential person may go out and have a cigarette ruining all chances of a happily ever after because you are not picky, but could never date a smoker. Okay, maybe those are just issues for me, but these are common complaints I hear on a weekly basis.

Personally, I’m a daylight seeker. If we can have a good conversation sober, and I feel you are nice enough to bring home to my mom and dad who met at that bar, we may have a match. Daylight is the true test. When forced to communicate in the harsh sunlight without the glazed eyes that prevent you from seeing my flaws, I know you like me for me…and vice versa. At parties, I’ve learned from experience that some conversations do not even matter after midnight because people wake up the next morning and forget they ever met you in the first place. It's important to remember names in order to make a relationship work.

I personally feel meeting your next stable relationship at a party is an exception to the rule. Too many substances are inhibiting people from connecting on that level that you need to connect with in order to have that stable relationship. I’m also a fan of being friends first, because you feel comfortable with one another and understand each other on that basic level of companionship. Unless there is daylight bonding, relationships after midnight do not work. If anyone would like to challenge me, I welcome your opinions.

Till next time: Happy Hunting. <3