Dating in parties, vacations, and other fun stuff

Fun places are some of the best places to scout out datables. Everybody’s relaxed, open, less uptight, and prepared to be happy and smile (it’s the reason for so many vacation romances). Here are a few of the best places to look:

• Parties: In terms of comfort, meeting someone at a party offers one of the same advantages that meeting someone in your neighborhood offers:
  You both know somebody in common.
  
• Cruises: Cruises can be the perfect vacation if you’re single, especially if you don’t emphasize the need to meet someone. Cruises meet the criteria for comfort and safety and, after a day or so, familiarity. Just be aware that vacation atmospheres are more fantasy than reality, but don’t overlook the potential here.
  
• Movies: Not everybody in line is coupled up; lots of singles go to movies, so the line into the movie, especially if it’s a long line, is not a bad place to get to know somebody. If you have the time to get to know each other before the movie begins, offering to share popcorn can work, too. (Yeah, I know the old joke about the chicken in the popcorn box. Puh-leeeeze.) But if you talk in the movie, I’ll give you a piece of my mind.
  
• Dances: Folk dancing is great, as is square dancing, because the caller tells you what to do, and you’re always changing partners. Ballroom dancing is a bit iffier in that there is a huge premium put on doing it well, and you’re pretty up-close and personal with someone. But if you love to dance and you’re good at it and you don’t mind your feet getting stomped occasionally, dancing does meet the something-in-common, sorta nonthreatening thing.
  If the music is loud, it’s often hard to talk when you’re dancing. If it’s disco, forget about it — you’ll never hear a word each other speaks, but then again, at least you don’t actually have to follow your partner.