One in a million

*Names have been changed to protect identities, but, if we are being honest and realistic, mine is the only one that really needs it.

Today I ran into a friend from high school who I haven't seen in a really long time. We chatted for a little while and since we are at BYU, of course the subject of dating came up. After taking some time away from the dating scene and being in Romania, I've become very detached from the notion of dates. So when this friend, we will call her Wemily, asked me if I wanted to go on a date, I did the normal, "Oh definitely/ I'm totally a cool girl/ who wouldn't want to date me?" thing. Unfortunately, I wasn't even considering the possibility that it would be so soon. All of a sudden I was volunteered to go on the infamous BLIND DATE for that evening.

BLIND DATE= noun. (1) An incredibly unfortunate way of meeting new people that usually ends up in more than one  awkward friend who you only know as the person you once embarrassed yourself in front of by doing that one thing you do that only your mom thinks is "special." (2) A dating activity beginning with high expectations, resulting with much lower success rates.

Anyways... it's 8pm and I have an hour before the date starts. I get ready. It's 8:07. I try to read about epigenesis in my textbook but after ten minutes, I'm still reading the same paragraph without anything sticking. I go and chow down on some carrots. 8:20. I have no idea what I did for the next 40 minutes... it's all an unproductive blur.

Wemily texts me about 8:45. "Text you when we are on our way"

"Ok call me if you get lost"

9:00 No text.

9:13

9:33

9:48 Ok time to figure out if this date is happening or not. Call Wemily.

No cell service.

Oh, poop.

By this point, I realize that despite not moving my phone from its spot on my desk, I am in a dead zone and am most likely the problem for not currently being on a date.

Oh, poop.

Now I'm running around my apartment trying to find a spot that will let me call Wemily and explain the situation. It's full on Lion King with my phone. I am super embarrassed because I realize that they have probably been searching and trying to find my remote apartment with no help from me for the past hour. I try not to think about it though. I try all the usual spots with no luck. I go outside and run around outside. Still no luck. I pace around my apartment feeling completely out of options, then I see the balcony. One last chance, I think. (Dramatic, much?)

Out on the balcony I tried calling Wemily, my best friend, her bf, my mom... you get the picture. I was desperate - I did not want to look like a completely incompetent idiot. I finally give up and turn to go back inside.

Oh, poop.

You may soon be wondering this question, "What sort of incompetent idiot closes the door behind her just to find service on the balcony? Isn't that completely inefficient and dumb?" Don't worry people, I asked myself the same question when I realized the door lock had slipped down when I closed it and I was now locked outside on my balcony with no cell service. Believe me when I say I tried extremely hard to open the stupid door. It only made me look like a bigger idiot.

So I'm stuck on my balcony. A group walks below and I pretend that I am on my balcony of my own free will, just chilling. Believe me, it was hard to hide the panic and gross realization off my face. Luckily they ignored me for the most part and were speaking Chinese so even if they commented on my situation, I had no clue.

Stuck, stuck, stuck. My only options are to get someone to go in through my apartment and unlock the door or climb over the balcony and make the jump down. There's no way I'm subjecting myself to more embarrassment so logically I secure my useless phone and climb over the balcony. On my descent down, I am very aware that this choice may be even more embarrassing if someone walked by mid-monkey pose and if I happened to break my ankle it'd make the whole situation even more comical. Only not.

Fortunately, I stick the landing and upon entering my apartment I finally get through to Wemily. I haven't used that many "sorry!"s in a really long time. Wemily tells me that my date is on his way to pick me up and has my number in case he gets lost. Because we know how well that worked out last time. I say sorry one more time and mention my apartment number.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to say, I'm in number 2! Ok bye!"

This doesn't seem odd or funny until you know that I do not, in fact, live in apartment 2. What possessed me to say that, you might ask? Probably the evil dating god that has obviously been facilitating my dating life the past couple years. But no, I have no idea why I said that.

So I plant myself in a spot that I know I have service in and wait.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Eleven minutes.

Twelve minutes.

Knock, knock, knock on my door.

OK. Sigh of relief. The wild goose chase is finally over. I open the door and there stands my date. We introduce ourselves and walk to his car. I'm feeling really bad about the whole thing, but try to forget about it and just have a fun time. But little do I know, there is so much more to this story.

Remember that whole lapse of sanity when I said I lived in #2? Well since my date was not a mind reader or given some sort of inspiration/revelation as to where I actually live (although that would have been a sweet tender mercy that he probably deserved), he, being completely rational, went to #2.

"Hi, is Chelsea here?"

"Oh yeah let me get her." says random roommate in #2.

Oh, poop.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES. One in a million.

So "Chelsea" comes to the door in her basketball shorts and t-shirt looking completely intrigued as to who her visitor is. This is the problem with blind dates. You walk into them completely blind. And you know what happens when you move the furniture around in a blind person's home.

"Hi I'm Wryan, are you ready to go on our date?"

You can imagine the surprise written across other Chelsea's face. "Umm... what are you talking about? Who are you again?"

"I'm your date...? You know, Wemily set us up and it's been a crazy time trying to find you. Am I missing something?"

"Yeah, I don't know anything about this date... Are you sure you're in the right place?"

This conversation is completely an invention of my imagination as to what took place, because I was actually just sitting in my kitchen waiting with no knowledge of the proceedings taking place downstairs.

Luckily, by one more random coincidence, one of Wryan's friends happened to be hanging out in that apartment so they put their heads together and figured out what had happened. Thanks to our super awesome ward clerk, they managed to find me on the ward directory, leading him to my correct door... probably thinking I was soo not worth the effort (I was thinking the same thing, but don't worry - I decided I totally am. Ha.).

So there you have it. The date was fun and provided a lot more good laughs, mostly at my expense, but still fun. If nothing else, it made for a great blog post.

Moral of the story: In NO circumstance should you close a balcony door behind you when you are alone at home. Or agree to a blind date when you are having a completely-incompetent-idiot sort of day. Or ask me on a date for any other purpose than entertainment and a legendary dating story to tell your grandchildren.


*Funny note: When my date was at #2, he tried calling me... of course my worthless-piece-of-crap phone received no call. Curse you evil dating god. You're ruining my life.