TV All the Time
by Jerry Guarino
David sat in front of his
big screen television, set the sound field on his
digital home theater and basked in the color and
sound of the hockey game. Home theaters and HDTV
cameras had made watching at home virtually as
good as going to the arena and a whole lot less
expensive; you just had to provide your own food.
Add a girl that liked the game, a pizza and good
wine and you had a date night to remember. David
had mastered the art of at home dating on the
cheap, thanks to his home theater, an investment
that kept paying him back.
College students usually put their money into
clothing or cars, but David wore his jeans and t-shirts
while building a Blu-Ray collection of movies
women liked.
Insider’s
note: some readers will think this is the same
David that created the bird feeder in Practical
Goldberg: A Love Story in 3 Parts – yes, it
is, but that was later in his quest for love.
Engineers are like that,
carefully analyzing the project needs, putting
together the resources required and building a
system methodically with constant refinement. His
liberal arts friends may be conversant in
literature and music, but David could simply buy
the appropriate movie or music required for that
particular girl’s tastes. He did his
research, carefully scanning through FB and
Twitter pages before making an introduction. His
online page had one picture; a romantically lit
room, a soft leather couch, the black BOSE home
theater system and a 61” HDTV screen with
Andrea Bocelli singing in Tuscany; he even
synched music to the page. When women checked it
out, half the work of luring them to his small
apartment was done. The page did the hard work,
giving the women a glimpse of a romantic date. It
looked safe and it was. David never treated his
dates as captives or forced them to do anything.
Your reputation is everything in college and
David found himself dating friends of past date
nights, usually with the recommendation “You
just have to see his room”. Women saw
the room and willingly offered to bring their
favorite music or movie for the night. More often
than not, that wasn’t the highlight of the
evening. He even had requests from multiple coeds,
with David the lone male providing simple food
and drink and the girls fighting over what to
watch. David had perfected the love nest and he
kept that secret away from his male buddies,
never allowing them in.
One day, while sitting in the campus coffee shop,
a message popped on his screen.
Kelly(@kellywinter)
is now following you.
David opened the link to
see Kelly’s twitter page. She was a coed at
his college, a Psychology major and member of the
field hockey team. “Hmm, pretty, athletic
and smart” He sent a simple message to her,
Hi Kelly,
thanks for following. David ☺
and then went back to his
iced tea. After a few minutes another message
appeared.
Hi David.
I love the picture of Bocelli on the big screen;
is that the Tuscany DVD?
David waited a minute,
pulled up the link to Bocelli’s Blu-ray disc,
‘Vivere, Live in Tuscany and sent it to
Kelly with this note.
Yes,
Vivere on blu-ray, amazing sound.
Most college guys would
have tried to lure girls with some rock star
music, but David knew what coeds wanted, a mature
guy, a less common university species. Kelly
quickly replied.
Are you
a music major?
David paused long enough to
consider his answer.
No,
engineering, but I love music.
It’s not a good idea
to lie; the truth always comes out. Engineering
may not be sexy, but David had his picture online
and he looked more like an English lit grad
student so his major didn’t turn girls off.
My minor
is classical music; I love Bocelli.
David wanted to invite her
over (her picture was online too and she was
quite pretty), but he knew from experience it was
better to be asked than to invite. He kept the
feed going.
The blu-ray
classical DVDs are so rich. I just bought some
Mozart piano concertos. If you close your eyes,
you’d think he was playing live.
Kelly was hooked now.
I play
piano. Mozart is so refined. I wish we had a
piano in the dorm.
David had another clue; the
dorm was only for freshman. Could this lovely be
19?
The dorm
was fun my freshman year, but I needed my own
space for studying and the frats weren’t for
me.
This line was his way of
saying he didn’t spend his weekends downing
beer by the case, an essential piece of
information to convey. He saw his opening.
I have a
keyboard on my system, I’m not much of a
musician, but I like to tinker.
Kelly was very interested.
She was ready to invite herself in, but needed to
know it was safe; she didn’t really know
enough about David.
My
friend Susan is a music major. Maybe we could
come over to hear the Vivere concert sometime, if
that’s OK? We could bring some Chianti.
David couldn’t believe
his luck.
Is pizza
OK? I put all my money into my system.
Kelly sent a picture of her
and her friend Susan, friends from Manchester by
the Sea on the beach along with a message.
Pizza is
great. How about Friday at 8?
David took one look at the
rich girls from Boston in their bikinis, thanked
God for his good luck and responded simply, but
politely.
That
sounds perfect. I’ll send you my address and
phone number.
David waited for Kelly to
sign off, then packed up his computer for home.
As he walked out, he noticed the pretty coed in
the corner doing the same. He smiled at her and
realized it was Kelly.
“Hi Kelly.”
“Hi David. Want to share a pizza?”
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