Let’s take a different approach this weekend and turn lemons into lemonade. What we might see as bad luck for being single on Valentine’s Day may actually be an excellent opportunity if we look at it in the right light.
True story: being between girlfriends for the first time since I was in high school, I found myself without a valentine. I had just moved in to a great new apartment in Manhattan and, to be honest, I was not sad about being alone that day. At all. In fact, I was excited. No pressure of making plans, buying gifts, or spending money.
The plan was simple: a couple vodka martinis, a bottle of cabernet, and a 28 oz porterhouse. Perfect! After finishing my workout around 8 p.m. I went out shopping for my dinner supplies at Fairway’s on 86th Street. What came next was eye opening.
I immediately noticed the bevy of beauties shopping solo, getting ready to prepare dinner for one. How did I know it was for one? Easy, shopping this late would mean pushing past 10 p.m. before placing dinner in front of that special someone. As you may already know, a grocery store might be the best place to meet people.
You can strike up a conversation in a place that’s bright, safe, and anyone who eats food has to visit (so, everyone). You can find out so much about people and what you might have in common by what they are buying. Being that it was Valentine's Day the women were seemingly very open to something happening. That evening I got numbers from several women, first in produce, next by the butcher's counter, and finally while trying artisan cheeses. You want to feel good about yourself? Then get a girl's number with the good intention of going out with her in the near future. And although it didn't happen to me, maybe you can try and date her that night.
In short, if you find yourself the lone wolf on Valentine's Day know you can find a lot of opportunity earlier in the evening (7:00-9:00) than that night. I say this because I found the later evening scene (hey, I was on a streak so I changed my plans and went out) was pretty desolate in many of the local bars. And that makes sense, right? None of those girls wants to be seen alone in public late that night.
One last thing, these ideas and tips come from a good place and are not meant to take advantage of anyone. Rather it's to get people together (mainly you) who might be right under each other's nose.
All the best.