The Dream

For some girls, the dream is that she'll meet a guy somewhere. Instantly, sparks will fly. Instantly, there will be a connection. Later, he'll say that she was the prettiest girl he ever saw. They'll go on a date and know right away that they want to be together. Things will move quickly and soon they'll be married and blah, blah, blahbbity blahbbity blah.

If that dream is your dream, I don't mean to diss your dream by blah, blah blahbbity blahbbity blahing all over it. It's a lovely dream, after a fashion. It's just one that I don't understand.

I recently realized that I, too, have a dream. This is how it goes: I meet someone, and he doesn't like me like that. Not at all. Maybe he's just into some other girl, or maybe he doesn't care for my weird and obnoxious personality. That's okay with me, because I don't like him either. I may feel drawn to him, but only because I find him rather annoying. Eventually, we become friends. And then, a long time after that—probably a few years later—we decide to try dating, and because we're such good friends, things go well, and it becomes obvious that we would feel like we were missing out if we didn't marry each other.

Dream #2 here seems far more realistic than Dream #1. At least, I always thought so. But the older I get, the more it seems that almost everyone else is looking for—and then actually living—Dream #1.

I keep thinking I'll change my mind, but so far, I just haven't been able to work up any enthusiasm for Dream #1.