Taken aback

An acquaintance of mine recently sent an email asking me to accompany her to an upcoming mental health seminar. Not sure if I'll attend this particular event, but it was at a similar one where I first met this woman. We see each other about half a dozen times a year at various functions and while I enjoy talking to her for an hour or two, I don't see our relationship ever crossing over into the "friend" category.

Since we aren't friends, I was kind of taken aback when she also asks if I'm dating anyone. Seems she'd like to set me up with someone she knows. Not someone she knows well mind you, just someone she met at one of her AA meetings that's apparently single and looking.

If she were a friend of mine, I'd just laugh it off and make jokes about how it'd be a really bad idea for me to date a recovering alcoholic when I just went on a bender last week. But from the conversations I've had with her, I can tell she doesn't grasp the concept of boundaries, doesn't like to be rejected and loves to meddle in other people's lives, which is exactly why I don't want to be friends with her. If she's willing to try and set me up with someone when she hardly even knows me, I can only imagine what she would try if we were actually friends.

My friends know better than to try and set me up on a blind date. I went on one when I was 21 and it was a horrible experience. I literally felt like I was on a date with my father and if I hadn't been trapped on a yacht on Lake Michigan (it was a black tie company affair), I would have ditched out on him faster than you can say Engelbert Humperdinck. After that I swore I'd never trust my friends' taste in men.

I'll be polite and reject this woman's attempts to hook me up. I'll also keep her at an even larger distance too. Thankfully she doesn't know where I live or my phone number.