Here we go...

When you live in a small town, the dating pool can get a bit incestuous.  I learned this growing up in a town of about 4,000 people in "middle of nowhere" Pennsylvania.  Sure, I have wonderful friendships that have lasted into adulthood with girls I've known since elementary school, but I also had to share a few of my boyfriends with them over the years.  

Now, keep in mind that in junior high/high school, my friends and I were all somewhat innocent and had led fairly sheltered lives, so when I say we "shared boyfriends", I don't mean we had wild orgies and also shared STD's.  It was more like, one girl dated so-and-so for a week and a half in 8th grade, then another dated him sophomore year for a few months, then I fell head over ass in love with him junior year and dated him off and on until graduation.  Within our smallish group specifically, even if we hadn't dated, most of us had nursed a brief crush at one time or another.  

After graduation, however, things did start to get a little weird.  I remember when 2 of our friends got married a few years after high school, we realized that out of 7 or so girls in our group, 4 of us had slept with the groom, not including the bride.  Bizarre. 

Fast forward to present day, and I am beginning to see history repeating itself.  In the quaint little village where I live and work, there are approximately 5 datable men.  Now, in case you're thinking "Oh, your standards are just too high, I'm sure there are plenty of men, you're just being picky", I will qualify the term "datable" as someone who has the following: a job; a car; a home.  I am picky in the sense that I prefer the "home" be somewhere other than his parents' basement, and the "job" be something other than selling drugs, but beyond that I am fairly open-minded.  

So, of the 5 datable men in my town: One is the brother of my bestie and dated a good friend of mine a few years back; One was good friends with my ex; One has already done the marriage/kids thing and is therefore uninterested in doing it again; One is completely uninterested in me or a relationship in general; and One is reeling from a recent divorce and acting like a bit of a douche.  If you add in the handful of other men that technically qualify under the job/car/home criteria, but who are raging alcoholics, well, there you have it... very few options for a gal like me.  

Thus begins "The Experiment".  Formerly called "The Mandi/Jess experiment", we've had some other girlfriends join our science project, so in the interest of keeping things simple, I've shortened it.  I've written down the names of 20 or so bars/restaurants/lounges in the area that we do not typically frequent, or where we've never actually been.  Many of them are in parts of town that seem like an entirely different world than where we reside.  I have put these names in a bag and chosen one at random.  We will go there.  We will order a cocktail.  We will turn on the charm.  And hopefully, we will bag us some new dudes.  Wish us luck!  "The Experiment" starts in T-minus 43 minutes.