A friend of mine named Yuko flew home to Japan yesterday. We first met on what I call a “visually challenged date”. It wasn’t really a blind date in the sense that the people who set it up didn’t think they’d been inspired and that wedding bells were coming in the next two months. (A side note: one meaning of “inspiration” is “the act of inhaling”. The next time some creep tells you they were inspired that you should go out with them, you can ask them what they were inhaling…or I guess if they were inspired, who inhaled them).

Back to the visually challenged date. It came about after the person she’d been scheduled to go to a formal dance with had to cancel. A mutual friend who know that I’d lived in Japan called and asked if I’d fill in. He told me up front that she was seven years older than me, and he wasn’t expecting anything. But she’d been looking forward to the dance, and he wanted to help ensure she got to go. I accepted. Naturally no sparks flew, but we did become good friends.

Taking time for “mere” friendships, even when you’re looking for more, is a good thing.