Strange Ways I’ve Set (or almost set) People Up

I am a serial matchmaker; I just want good people to know each other.

About two years ago, I wrote a post about 5 Crazy Ways I’ve Been Set Up.

Today, I add the companion post with some strange ways I have set people up, or in some cases, tried to set them up because I rarely succeed. But who cares about success rates in dating, right?

1. I used to organize group dates when I was young and unafraid. I wanted to help my friends go on dates and get to know other people in fun settings. This often turned into massive groups of 15-20 couples. And often I ended up setting up most of the couples because I’m a connector and I know people. One time we got down to the wire and did not have a date for one of my friends. I was chatting with her at work, while also chatting with someone from our help desk about a tech issue. I was a frequenter of pinging the help desk people at the time (because it was part of my job) and knew the dude was single because you chat about stuff while you wait for the spinning wheel of death to stop spinning…So I asked him if he’d go with my friend. He was unavailable. But he offered up another one of his friends as sacrifice. I honestly can’t remember if the friend ended up going, but #gutsy.
   1. On one of these group dates, I got close to the day of the event and still needed some guys for dates, including a date for myself. I asked a friend to come along and asked if he knew anyone we could invite to join. He gave me a name, so I looked the dude up to see who he might match with and said, “Hmm…I think he might match with me!” and set myself up.
   2. Note: the main image on this blog is from one of those group dates. I have no idea who is behind the masks.
2. “Mutual” friends. One time I matched with a guy on a dating app that sounded PERFECT for one of my friends. So I messaged him and told him about my friend and asked if he’d be interested in a set up through a dating app from a complete stranger. It’s really not that different from meeting up with a complete stranger in and of itself, right? He said he’d be interested. I asked said friend. She said it was a crazy idea, but she’d go for it, too. I passed along their information and voila! He never called. #toogoodtobetrue
   1. Another time I found a guy who looked really nice on a dating app and lived close to a friend in another city, so I wanted her to meet him. I told her to put her distance range on the app to try and bring him up and go through all the guys in his age range. Couldn’t ever find him. #almost
3. Straight to the source. Because I used to have a large single friend network, I have had guys ping me several times to tell me about certain girls they wanted to/tried to/did match with on dating apps and/or met in real life. They want to do a reference check, so they thought if the person was friends with me on the social medias, she might not be a crazy. The guys sometimes just ask for me to set them up after giving the reference check instead of reverting back to the apps or attempts to meet in real life.
4. Randos. One time I sat next to a lady at an outdoor play and she shared her blanket/umbrella when it started to downpour. I found out she worked for the Church as well. And that she seemed like a nice person. So I immediately tried to set her up with an old friend. Pretty sure he never did anything about it. #hisloss
5. Setting up with my set ups. This is a classic/signature Liz move. Often I go on a date and the guy is a really nice guy, but either a) I’m not super in to him or b) he’s not super in to me. So I wait about a month or two after the date and then reach out to the guy. I usually intro with something like, “You know, it’s totally fine you’re not interested (or I’m not), but also, you’re really cool so…can I set you up with one of my friends?” And you know what? Sometimes they say yes. And then I set them up with one of my friends. And then they don’t like my friends either.
   1. Except for one time the guy DID like one of my friends and they dated and got married. So I win. Or they do, I guess.
   2. How did I meet him? Well, it’s a crazy story outlined in #4 in my other blog.
   3. Let’s just be real here. Most of the guys I set people up with are those who I’ve previously gone out with. #confession
   4. And/or they’re people who maybe would have asked me out (haha, I flatter myself). But they didn’t and it’s probably not related that the first thing I asked them when we met is if they’d go on a date with one of my friends. #doubleconfession
6. Set up service. This one, by far, was the most elaborate and time-consuming effort. A few years ago, I had the idea to put together a set up service. Someday FOR REALS I’m going to blog about the experience. I must still be too scarred to do so. People sent in profiles and the whole bit. I set couples up. One couple dated for a while but he was a pansy-pants and couldn’t commit (clearly you know whose side of the story I got). Another couple is the success story in 5.1 of this very same blog. Most people ended up not liking me after this experiment. You win some, you lose most.

I still try to set people up on occasion, but I have fewer and fewer single friends. And I have even fewer single friends who want to be set up. And for some reason people question my matchmaking skillz. To each their own.