Transparency

In general, I think that transparency is a good idea. I've felt frustrated in organizations that do not tell the underlings (ME) what is going on or the reasoning behind decisions, so there is often a lot of resistance and frustration.

In dating, transparency is always a little trickier. At the beginning of relationships, it's always good to keep a low profile as you figure out if you really want to date the person. However, in the Mormon world, talking to a member of the opposite sex for more than 5 minutes starts to create some buzz. This makes absolutely no sense to me.

I've heard of the bishops' wives being in "the know" of the dating developments of a YSA ward. But, I've never had a good enough relationship with the any of my bishops' wives before for this to impact me on any level. Now that my current bishop's wife is my real estate agent (home ownership, you know that's right!), we've been able to chat a lot. It's never turned to romantic pursuits until this weekend.

For my calling (assignment in the church), I attended a family history/genealogy fair on Saturday, to which the co-chair of my committee also attended. After the fair, there was an hour break before another church activity was going to start. So we decided to discuss our committee and get some food during that break.

When we get back for the next activity, we sit next to the Bishop and his wife to discuss some of the goals and ideas for our committee with them. 20 minutes later, the Bishop's wife privately asks me if it was a date. Now I know that she wants everyone to go on dates, but when I'm assigned to work with someone on a committee and we discuss our committee over fast food, I don't understand how on any level I would accept that as a date. Even if he had paid for it.

So I can't even discuss my calling with the person I was assigned to work with for more than 5 minutes without people judging our romantic interest and possibilities with one another? This is what makes dating among Mormons even more annoying. Let me be.

When something interesting in my romantic life happens, I'll let you know.

When someone tries to comfort me about being single