As another Valentines day draws to a close I thought I’d ask you to recall the craziest thing ‘love’ has ever made you do? Whatever it is, I bet the woman in the video below has got you beat.
With just a card table, two mics, a camera and a sign that reads “Interviews 50c.” NPR’s Alex Chadwick sits and waits to see what stories will come his way. This one has to be one of the more bizarre ones.
A 36 year old female lawyer from Dallas feels that her “biological clock” is ticking and that her hopes to start a family lie in personal ads. After conversing with a guy in Florida “a couple of times” said woman gives up her job, packs up her life, and drives to Florida to meet her Mr Right to maybe start a family. “I’m catholic, and I want to have a lot of kids.” She tells Chadwick.
She makes arrangements to meet her love-to-be in a restaurant in Key West, but along the way she is delayed visiting friends in Pensacola.
Her love-to-be sits in the restaurant and waits for her, but she doesn’t show up. Two days later she arrives at the restaurant, but surprise surprise he is not there. So, with her friend Anita, crazy Texas lady revisits the restuarant at the same time every night in the hope to meet her ‘Mr Right’.
Chadwick doesn’t mince his words. “Is this true?” “Yes of course,” Asserts the woman “Who could make up a story like this?” She continues. Who indeed!
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Wrote the following comment on Feb 15, 2008 at 1:58 am
how old is this? have they not heard of a PHONE?!
Wrote the following comment on Feb 15, 2008 at 3:26 am
I am thinking that her move was justified alone on the basis of getting out of Dallas, Texas and moving to Key West, Florida. So, even if she never meets “Mr. Right”, she will be alright. Besides, my guess is that she has a better chance of finding someone where she currently abides. And, how hard could it be finding another job as a lawyer? America is pretty litigious all over. She will be fine.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 15, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Ha crazy is not the word to describe her. I would say desperate. That was funny and I dont get how people cant find someone. Like people who use eharmony, match.com etc……
I dont get how people cant just connect w/someone and those commercials make it look like there will be really good looking people. The sad truth is….if you cant find a love interet in normal every day life and you have to join a dating site….there is prob something really wrong w/ you. (shaking head)
Wrote the following comment on Feb 15, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I think the moral of the story is, dont be a lawyer if you want to marry. :)hahaha
I’m with Marcie though…. the whole time i was thinking, dont they have his number? or at least his address if they corresponded? its called wifi..
but then looking at her jewelry and hair, it looks like the video was done in the 80s. For her sake i hope that’s the case.
Barbie: i think that’s a bit extreme! I dont connect with many guys and often find myself in an eligible man famine- and i’m in my mid twenties! I think the connection factor has more to do with how particular you are in dating… some people arent particular at all.. some are.
On top of the particular factor, its especially hard in this ladies case. When you’re a 36 yr. old single female, the odds really go against you. Most of the available men are widowers, divorcees, or weird. Then as our culture goes, she will probably want to be with someone older then her. THe problem with taht is she’s ‘competing’ with women who are years younger then her as well. Granted there are some men who want the age and maturity thing, but there are many more who dont and when the pickings are already slim, this can really affect your odds of finding a guy in social circles. and really, lets face it. her clock is about to tick its last tock.
anyways, i can fully understand why she would go to personals… and while i dont think i’ll ever move to key west for a man, i can understand what circumstances brought her to this desperate step.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 15, 2008 at 7:05 pm
You know my first thought was also ‘how come she never just called him to reschedule.’ And now, when I go back and examine the video again I am thinking that maybe it is old. Not the 80’s as Rachel suggests, but say 1996-99ish, that would be my guess. (I had a phone back then, but you American tend to lag behind the world in cell phone technology so it’s possible that they weren’t widespread there then.)
Now Barbie, come on, are you serious that people who use dating services are losers? There are people who aren’t so great at the social interaction thing for whom this is a great way to meet before actually meeting.
I used to be equally as dispariging about such services, by my friend Anne met her husband through eharmony and my mate Will met his delightful lady through match.com. So while it might not be my cup of tea, it’s worked for them and countless others.
Now Rachel, I was agreeing with you until you wrote “Most of the available men are widowers, divorcees, or weird.” So by this are we to assume that you believe that widowers and divorcees are somehow not as “eligible”. Please don’t allow the fact that my brother is a widower to influence your answer now will you ;-)
I’ve emailed Alex Chadwick asking him if he could tell us how old the video is. Won’t it be cool if he responds.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 15, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Well simon, i should point out that my mother is a widow and has been since her 20s.
Widow/ers I think are perfectly fine as long as they’ve gone through their mourning process- but that’s no different from anyone who’s been involved in any form of romantic relationship.
I said what i said simply to point out the smaller number of older single men in their 40s (which is where a 36 yr. old woman would have to go) v. 20s and early 30s. If you want to find someone later on in life, you have to wait for either nature or humanity to take its toll v. your 20s when everyone was single.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 16, 2008 at 12:32 am
I guess your right about the dating svcs. I met my current beau here…..but I make myself feel better by describing it as “a different forum” lol. I didnt mean to offend anyone who has found love there. I guess its better than picking someone up in the produce section at the store…..Like some guy sommenting on the “nice melons”. ;)
Actually I have had a cell phone since 97 and have only had 2 #’s. I was thinking the same thing….like why didnt she get his # or maybe his last name??? Back in the day…(if its in the 90’s), she could have went to a pay phone and called him or at least called information and got a listing. She was weird……thats why she’s not married lol.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 16, 2008 at 3:24 am
wow… i guess thats pretty out there.. and she wasnt even in love.. just trying to find it.. i guess the craziest thing ive ever done.. is pay $3000 to fix a car that turned out to belong to the guys girls friend… next in line would have to be paying the same guys rent and light bill…
not thats just the stupid stuff
ive also sang to a guy holding a rose in the middle of downtown houston. ( so out of my character)and ive crept into a dorm room while all the guys were out and left a little stuffed mickey mouse sitting on a rocking chair with a golden locket around his neck. and a rose with of coarse the corny love note laying on his bed. he thought it was kind of cool.. and heck.. i wasnt even in love then i just really liked the guy.but ive given up on romance and do nothing for love of a man.. only for the love of christ
Wrote the following comment on Feb 16, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Well it hasn’t actually worked out, but hey I believe it can ;-)
However, some people like Simon seem to be able to just make connections with people really easily in everyday life, others like myself find it a little more difficult. I’ve always said that internet dating is for those that are time poor.
Regarding the story, if you were going to go to the trouble of traveling that far to meet a guy, wouldn’t you go to the trouble of getting there on time, and if you couldn’t make it, calling to let them know you were running late? To be honest, the fact that she did neither is probably why she was single in the first place :-)
Wrote the following comment on Feb 16, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Interviews 50 Cents began as an interstitial series on an American television news program in the early 1990s (I believe around 1993). Alex Chadwick and his friend, veteran TV producer Ray Farkas, created it, and I was one of the many viewers who found it captivating. Last year, I asked Alex (with whom I worked at NPR for many years) what ever happened to the show, and he said he and Ray were hoping to do a new series. So, much to my delight, Slate V was able to commission a new batch.
The videos we’re running on Slate V are a combination of old and new I50C’s, mostly new. You’re correct that the one on your blog is from an earlier series (Alex and Ray have made several through the years). I don’t know the exact date, but it’s circa 1994 I believe. However, the majority of videos on our site (including all the ones from Baltimore and Washington, D.C.) are from the new series.
One sad footnote: Ray Farkas passed away from cancer last month. He was such an amazing professional that he was literally directing the editing on this project from his hospital bed. It’s a tremendous loss, but the work he left behind is a marvelous legacy.
All the best,
Andy
Wrote the following comment on Feb 16, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Simon –
Thanks for your note to me at NPR, and yes, I confirm what Andy says above. Very perceptive on your part. I think we shot this in 1993. Cell-phones were pretty unusual back then in the US – I don’t think I knew anyone who had one.
Then why didn’t she have a regular phone number for him? I don’t know, but I think the personal ads then were more anonymous than they are now. Your identity lay behind a box number at whatever paper you published in, and you kept all the details to yourself. It was a little nuts to go all that way on a blind date, and then blow the meet by two days. But she didn’t seem to be suffering from self doubt over it…
Thanks for posting this, and I hope you’ll see some of the other interviews we’ve posted.
Alex
Wrote the following comment on Feb 17, 2008 at 7:37 am
I almost moved to St. Louis. Gotta love those long-distance relationships!
Wrote the following comment on Feb 18, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I suppose Will, rather than the old “plenty more fish in the sea” saying the new version might be something like “plenty more bits in the bytes.” I suppose it’ll get to the point where “time poor” people will start ‘iDating’ soon right from their laptop via the webcam! – Oh wait, let me run out and patent that! :-)
Wrote the following comment on Feb 18, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Hey, thanks for the comment Alex and Andy. In case some of you missed it Alex was the guy giving that interview and Andy is the executive producer over at Slate V.
So 1993 was the year. Well I tip my hat to Rachel then. She was a little off with her time estimation but nonetheless I wouldn’t have really thought about the time factor unless she had mentioned it.