When going out for a night on the town, so to speak, with your significant other, you would tend to focus on just that -- your significant other. Not the Brad Pitt look-a-like on the other side of the bar, or the creepy guy trying to sit in your vicinity, or who's married and who isn't. Really, you're just focused on your relationship and having a nice time with your other half. Maybe you're a little focused on the pushy girl with no morals who is trying to scam on your man (maybe!), but that's about it. Otherwise, it's just about the two of you.
I am naming the phenomenon described in the preceding paragraph: Relationship Goggles. Brethren to beer goggles, although the googly eyes and fuzzy feeling that fills you briefly and lowers your otherwise decent standards in the former is replaced with a similar googly-eyed and fuzzy feeling associated with being "happily in a relationship" in the latter. This, my friends, is an all-too-common relationship
Case and point: I just celebrated my 5-month unversary and have been rediscovering how much I enjoy frequenting the local watering holes with my friends. With my training wheels still on, I notice time and time again the frequency of which my girlfriends are approached by new potential prospects. I am just beginning to notice this as my relationship goggles are finally fading and I am becoming more open to the idea of talking to the opposite sex let alone being in the same room with them. (I would say up until month 4 I reverted to my 8 year-old self and decided that boys had cooties, which were very contagious and could be transmitted by being within 5 feet of anyone with a you know what [friends and coworkers excluded]).
It was just after this point when I realized how disgustingly rusty I am! I am (a) oblivious to any male trying to approach me -- definite side-effect of recent relationship goggles, (b) in desperate need of a filter -- those tend to fall to the wayside after a 5 year pseudo-marriage, and (c) mortified by the fact that I have absolutely no cute clothes to wear "out" anymore as they have all been replaced by suits, slacks, cardigans, and black pumps -- this is what I get for being an accountant.
I am working on all of this.
I have also learned some valuable lessons over the past week. (1) Do not approach the prospect -- they will approach you...and you don't need to go looking all desperate. (2) Do not interrupt another female while she is talking to a male no matter how much you want to interject (yes, there is another word for this and see previous comments about obtaining a filter). (3) Do talk to everyone because practice makes perfect, people. (4) Do go shopping when you decide your closet is empty. And (5) do dance when someone asks you to, even if it's a completely ridiculous song to which it is only appropriate to jump around to.
Whew! It is hardly fair how certain skills fall to the wayside when they are not being put to use. This whole new single thing makes me feel like I got sent back to kindergarten and have to learn how to write my name all over again. I do, however, have one thing going for me: I am happy. And happy girls are most certainly the prettiest girls (thank you, Audrey Hepburn).
Here's to looking forward to next week's adventures.
