THE DATING GAME
Established couple hits a couple of snags
By FRED GONZALEZ
fgonzalez@MiamiHerald.com
Enjoying a dinner recently at Barton G. on Miami Beach, I met a pair of locals who had a unique view on dating once you have established yourselves as a couple.
It becomes more challenging to find other couples to socialize with, said Doug and Diedra. This makes some sense when you consider most of your single friends would prefer to hang out with other single friends and not with a couple who reminds them first hand that they are not in a relationship.
Doug and Diedra, who have been a couple for about a year and a half, said they sometimes only mesh with one of the pair. That can lead to some awkward moments -- you can't really invite just one of them out. Or perhaps a couple is great the first time you double date, but later, they're not as compatible.
Doug and Diedra's solution? A Match.com style website, but for couples to meet.
Ingenious idea, I thought.
''Please don't tell anyone,'' Diedra said. ``We're hoping to start the model here in Miami.''
''Don't worry, secret's safe with me,'' I assured her.
They went on to say that this would not be a site for swingers to meet. It would be geared to young professionals who share the same business and social interests. You could meet for dinner, hit the clubs or go see a movie together. Even increase your circle of friends.
Regardless, the site could have helped prevent one of their more awkward couple moments.
Three Sundays ago, Doug and Diedra invited their neighbors over for some grilling and chilling at their place. They watched some football. They cooked some steaks. Created a great spread of food. Shared some wine and had a blast.
Two Sunday's later, they invited Diedra's co-worker and her boyfriend to grill. This time, they watched baseball, but their setup was the same: steaks, the same spread, same wine vintages. Hey, it worked once, so why not again but with a different couple.
What they didn't count on was for their neighbors to get a whiff of the steaks and walk on over unannounced.
So when Doug opened the door, he let his neighbors in, introduced them to their friends, and felt awkward.
''It was like we had just been caught cheating,'' Doug said. ``We had the same food and everything, and our neighbors noticed it, too.''
Fortunately the neighbors politely left, not wanting to crash the party -- a party they had already attended once before. But their message had been sent: This was their territory and they were coming to claim it.
Perhaps if there was a ''DoubleDate.com'' this awkwardness could have been avoided.
Join the discussion
Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.
The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
More Love & Relationships
Videos
















My Yahoo
@Nyx.CommentBody@