How We Met....

So, as a lot of my loyal readers know, my high school reunion came and went this past weekend.  I stopped by.

A cliffnotes version:

I saw a guy I was acquainted with - we had several mutual friends, but never really knew each other too well.  Let's call him Tom, well, cause that's his name.  We started the usual casual banter.

J:  What are you up to these days?
T:  I work in x field, at x company.  I live in Chicago with my fiance.
J:  When is your wedding?
T:  Next weekend.
J:  How long have you and your fiance been together?
T:  A little over two years.
J:  How did you two meet?
T:  On the metra.  She and I were sitting across from each other.  I randomly struck up a conversation with her.  It was the one day I was randomly taking the metra.

Ok, let's assume he's 100% telling the truth and this isn't a cute cover story for eharmony.  I was just, in my mind, wondering if people met like this any more.  I felt like 5-10 years ago, maybe, people pushed themselves to meet speak to strangers this way because it was one of the only ways to meet new people.  However, with the existence of the internet, I wonder if people no longer stepped out of comfort zone in such a way.  I suppose I must say, thank you, Tom, for answering this question.

Does anyone out there sometimes strike up a conversation with an attractive stranger?  Does anyone else have a 'how we met' story like this that has taken place in the past three years?

Where to Meet Someone, Part 2

Ok, so once, I did have an experience of meeting someone/getting asked out on the street. However...here's how it went.

I was walking down the street with a coworker/good friend (and regular blog reader). It was just after New Year's, I believe, and I had made a resolution to be more open-minded toward men who ask me out (it was "The Year of the Yes" for me, if you will). Anyhow.

A random jogger guy ran past us at some point. I saw him briefly. My friend and I happened to separate because she had to go to her car and I went back into the office. A couple minutes later, said friend calls my cell phone.

In short, this jogger guy approached her and asked for my number. A.Page, being the savvy friend that she is, told him she would take his number down and give it to me.

Long story short, it was the year of the yes, I was single, I gave him a call. I'll give you a brief synopsis of said phone conversation. (I have summarized for your sanity, dear reader.)

(A brief 'Hi, how's it going, etc.' takes place.)
Me: So what do you do? Where do you work?
His name was Phil: I work in advertising, at an agency.
Me: Oh cool, I work in advertising too. I work at XXXX. Which agency do you work at?
Phil: Uh, it's on Michigan Avenue. I'm not supposed to say.
Me: Huh?
Phil: They don't like it when we tell people where we work, you know.
(Ooookkkk....)
Me: So where do you live?
Phil: Chicago
Me: Which area? (All I was lookin' for a was a simple 'Lincoln Park' - not a specific street address.)
Phil: The city, in general.
Me: Uh, this is kind of weird.
Phil: You have to understand where I'm coming from, I don't really know you, my last girlfriend was the psycho....
Me: (Since I was getting irritated at this point, I figured I'd give him one final chance to strike out.) What's your last name?
Phil: Oh, there's no way I'm gonna tell you that.
Me: You think I'm possibly going to agree to meet you when you won't tell me the first thing about yourself?
Phil: Well, we can meet at a public place.
(LIKE THERE WAS EVER AN ALTERNATIVE OPTION.)
Me: CLICK.

Anyhow - long story short - something was obviously shady. So, I guess that brings me back to part 1 of this series - is it possible to meet a NORMAL person who turns into a legitimate relationship in this way? Does this happen?

Editor's sidenote: However unrealistic, I do believe that his employer is, for obvious reasons, ashamed of the individuals it hires and that hr may have, indeed, pulled him on the side and asked him never to divulge that he is, indeed, associated with them.

Where to Meet People....

Ok, so I know I've discussed in this blog (multiple times) places a person can meet someone (for dating purposes). I think it's been established that the main ways to meet people are 1) through a friend, 2) at a bar, 3) at work, or 4) online.

However, many people have qualms with any/all of the above.

Now, it seems to me that, in theory, especially in a big city like Chicago, there should be plenty of other places to meet people. We SEE tons of new people every single day of our lives. There's nothing, in theory, abnormal about approaching a stranger and trying to strike up a conversation at a bar. So it seems as though one could, also in theory, approach a stranger on the train, in a bookstore, at a coffeeshop, on the jogging path, etc.

However - my MAIN question: do normal people ever really do that? Has anyone met his/her significant other, or someone who was a legitimate romantic partner at some point in such a way? It seems all well and good on paper, but does that ever really happen? It seems awkward - it's hard enough to start a conversation with a stranger, and if you think about it - the turnaround time of getting a phone number/date/some promise of a possibility of speaking to the person ever again has got to be pretty darn quick, if it's, say, somewhere like 'in line at the coffee shop'.

Anyhow. I feel like, in movies, people can easily fall in love in line at the grocery store, but does that EVER really happen in real life? Has anyone ever asked anyone out/been asked out this way? Does anyone know anyone who has had a real relationship start this way? Do people actually do this?