The Shabbos Table Experiment-Part II

After my intial shock of spontaneously agreeing to go spend Shabbos at people whom I don't know with my good friend, so that she can pre-date a guy that was offered to her, I got my heels on and prepared for this 'experiment'. We set out on our walking journey and with directions and an address, we headed on our way. Even though we timed ourselves to be a few minutes late, we arrived a bit earlier-meaning we were there before the men got home from Shul.
Luckily though, the hostess is a very warm and friendly person and she made us very comfortable as we helped set the table and play with her baby.
THEN: the moment we were waiting for: sounds of "good Shabbos" filled the house along with the footsteps.
Now, of course we didn't want to be too obvious and check the guy out so we waited patiently until the men entered the dining room and let's just say that the guy wasn't the most skinniest guy on the planet-but they DID mention something about him being a bit on the 'bigger' side.

Whatever the case was, we were polite throughout and the conversation flowed, surprisingly, smoothely. The meal was very delicious, we were laughing, joking, listening to divrei torah, enjoying the shabbos zemiros and it wasn't too obvious, or too awkward sitting at the same table as this guy, so I guess I can say, it went sooo much better than I anticipated, down until the last bite of dessert.

We thanked the hosts and walked out feeling relieved-well atleast I felt relieved-that it was over. But, you see, the situation was NOT over, as they still wanted my friend to go out with this guy, even though, after she saw him she didn't think she would go out with him. But she was worried that if she says no after having the Shabbos meal, they will know that the reason she is saying no is because of his looks and let's face it, she didn't want to seem THAT superficial (even though she's really pretty and he was well, not that attractive). I have to admit here though, that they both had the same sense of humor and got along well during the meal (of course there was no arguing over the chicken-lol!). They also came from the same backgrounds, so there was definitely common ground. So when the woman called my friend the next day, she sorta let herself be convinced that there were all these others good qualities, and similarities between them that she couldn't say no just based on the looks. Lo and behold-they actually went out!

The date went well, they talked and laughed some more, but another thing to add to this story is that she is a frum Bais Yaakov girl and the guy was on a totally different level of religiosity (is that even a word?!), and was just beginning his journey of growth through Torah.

Even though she was sorta 'pushed' into going out with this guy after the 'Shabbos Table Experiment', she has no regrets. She said they had nice dates, he was polite and friendly and they had lots to talk about. In the end, it was just a 'pareve' designation on both ends and my friend wanted someone more Frum so they just wished each other well and continued on.

I guess the conclusion to our experiment is: a date came out of it, two people got to chat and make each other laugh, and then part ways....