On the brighter side, the dating scene has provided lots of entertainment and adventure. Despite the fact that my various romances have not yet grown into lasting relationships, I’m glad, for the most part, that I have had them. I believe people come into your life for a reason. I suppose they exit your life for a reason too. The important thing is to learn, right?

As far as interesting flirtations and pick up lines, I have a couple of memorable ones to share. One of my first ventures into the dating scene post divorce was a singles dance for people 35 and older. I was with my married sister and her husband, and my friend Peggy who at the time wasn’t 35. So we were cheating a bit. I wasn’t brave or crazy enough to go to someplace like that alone.

Anyway, the hosting restaurant in DC was Mexican. The booths had large wooden carvings of horses on one side. You could see around carvings to the bar. Perhaps it was because I was sitting at a booth, or perhaps because one of our party was a guy, but no one had asked me to dance. I decided to take matters into my own hands. The four of us started looking around to find me a target. I made eye contact with a guy at the bar who I was discussing with my friends when he approached me with a memorable opening line.

Apparently taking his queue from the moment of eye contact, he put his hand on the hind quarters of the horse statue attached to our booth, leaned around toward me and asked, “Would you be interested in a horse’s ass?” Not your usual opener, but one that was humorous and ultimately honest. I appreciate honesty and humor, so we did dance. That romance had more length to it than many I’ve had since. I learned a lot, so it was worthwhile.

Another memorable pick-up line came at a local pub from a New York firefighter in town for a hockey tournament. We had already danced and were talking when my ride home tapped me on the shoulder. He said he wanted to talk to me again and asked for my number. I agreed and looked for a cocktail napkin that wasn’t too soggy to write on. Before I could find that, he whipped out a $100 bill and had me write my number on that. Then he pulled out a $50 bill and wrote his number on that and gave it to me. Pretty cool, huh? He did call the next night, but way too late. Hhmmm. What do you think he wanted? Eventually, I spent the $50. I suppose there is still a $100 bill circulating my number. Even though that encounter led nowhere, it was an impressive flirtation.

Do you have any lines that you’ve repeated? Did you ever have a dazzling first encounter, whether or not it turned into anything more? Maybe “dazzling” is too much, but memorable.