The Thirteenth Girl

He was twenty-six years old
And had been a student
Virtually his entire life.
He came to the United States
To pursue graduate studies
In computer science,
But he had completed that
And a job offer brought him
To Southern California.
Now that he had a job
It occurred to him
That the time was right
To find a wife,
Settle down
And get a place of his own.
Having never been
On a date before,
Women were
An total mystery to him,
And he had no idea
How to talk to them,
What to say,
Or what to do with one
Once he found her.
Nevertheless,
His mind was set
On finding a mate.
Since he was a native of India,
A land where marriages
Are generally arranged,
Heading back home
Seemed the logical thing to do.
He presumed it would be easier
To find a suitable mate there,
But was in for a surprise.
He interviewed a few
Prospective brides,
But he was shocked to find
None of them were interested in him
And his chosen path in life.
Even in that part of the world
Women had a choice,
And that seemed to complicate things.
This process of finding a mate
Had turned into an ordeal,
Definitely more trouble
Than he had initially assumed.
He came back to the States
Empty handed,
But no less determined
To find a mate.
Once he got back,
He was confronted by challenges.
First, women of his race
Were decidedly fewer,
And far between
Here in this country,
And because his luck with them
Had been less than exemplary,
He decided to expand
The spectrum of women
He was willing to consider.
Second, and infinitely more problematic
Was that dating
Was an essential step
In getting to know a woman,
And he had still
Never been out on a date.
He asked a number of girls out
But each one turned him down
For one reason or another.
He rationalized the first few times
That it had nothing to do with him,
But after a while,
He began to wonder.
It seemed the ones he met
Weren’t interested in him.
Though his ego was bruised,
He persisted,
Determined to find
A girl for him
No matter what it took.
He was near despair,
When he asked
The thirteenth girl.
Much to his amazement,
She said yes,
And he was left clueless
What to say next,
Never having ventured that far
In any of his thinking.
The girl had to ask him
When and where!
He sought coaching
From the people he knew,
And the main thing he learned
Was not to take a date to
Burger King or McDonald’s.
He also heard women liked flowers,
So he picked up
One hundred roses
To give to the girl,
Having no idea
How many would be appropriate.
When the day came,
He still felt ill prepared.
He picked her up,
Then decided his car
Was much too dirty,
So the first place they went
Was to a car wash!
She chatted away,
Trying to break the ice
And get him
To relax a bit,
But he remained
Stone cold and silent,
Petrified by fear,
Unsure what to say.
Finally he apologized
Telling her he would likely be
A poor excuse for a date.
She snapped back
With an appropriate retort,
Informing him
She would have a great time
Whether he chose to or not.
That was precisely
What he needed to hear
And it loosened him up
So that he could enjoy himself.
That was six years ago.
They are still together today
Enjoying each other,
And laughing at the difficulty he had
In his efforts to find her.