Get thee to a nunnery!

The title of this post is not only a quote from "Hamlet" but also a shout-out to anyone reading this who may have been in my 12th grade English class.

About a week ago, I was sitting in my boss's office when my co-worker, Jess, made some sort of veiled comment about this project. This of course led to my boss asking me what was going on, and being the open person I am, I told her.

I expected her to either think it was cool or to think it was a terrible idea. As it turns out, she not only is completely fascinated by it and continuously asks me about my upcoming dates, she also had a similar story to tell!

"Did I ever tell you about my cousin, the nun?"

My co-worker and I shook our heads.

"One of my cousins was a nun, and a very accomplished one. She helped to found that children's hospital..." My boss thought for a moment before remembering the name. "St. Jude. She helped to found St. Jude. But she didn't always want to be a nun."

I wouldn't blame her.I mean, there aren't very many people who want to be nuns. It's a pretty thankless job and frankly sounds pretty boring to me. As I thought about this, my boss continued.

"When she first thought that maybe she was supposed to be a nun, she wasn't happy about it. The celibacy thing, you know. So she made a vow to herself: She was going to go on 100 dates, and if she didn't meet anyone special during those 100 dates, she would become a nun."

My boss stopped there, as if the story was over. I already knew the answer of course, but I asked anyway:  "So...Did she go on the dates?"

"Oh, yes. And didn't meet anyone special, I guess."

And that was the end of the story. That was it! I mean, what's the moral there?! If this woman went on 100 dates and didn't find anyone special, how am I supposed to meet someone in just over half that many? Am I doomed to be alone for the rest of my life? Am I supposed to become a nun or something?

Sure, I suppose you can make the argument that the only reason she didn't meet anyone is because she was SUPPOSED to become a nun, it was God's plan, blah blah blah. If you believe in that stuff, fine. All I know is that right now, 52 dates is UNFATHOMABLE to me. I mean, I've gone on TWO and it's already tiring. Not the date themselves, those are fine. But the process of trying to find people, coordinate schedules, decide where to go...Ugh! It's tiring! And is anything going to come out of it? Am I going to meet someone special? Or am I doomed to a life of involuntary celibacy?