Deserters and Dessert-ers

In addition to being approachable, I feel like mentioning something else tonight that I think may help those who feel like they may not necessarily be meeting the kind of people they wish to meet: be a "dessert-er" and not "deserter."

A friend of mine in the ward coined this phrase, and I use it here with his permission.

One night after institute, this friend and I were talking and were enjoying some of the cookies provided for our refreshment following that night's class. As we were doing so, he observed that a large number of those in attendance got up and headed out for the parking lot shortly after class concluded. He expressed his dismay at this, saying that he preferred those nights far more when "dessert-ers" (those who stayed around to eat dessert and socialize) outweighed the "deserters" (those who promptly headed headed home, abandoning the building as if it were on fire).

In the same vein, I had a conversation with a different friend in the ward recently who expressed this thought: "There are a lot of beautiful girls in our ward, but so many of them don't hang around after church so I can get a chance to know them better. Within a few minutes after the third block gets out, most of them are gone. There are plenty I'd like to get to know, but I'm not going to run out to the parking lot and hunt them down for the opportunity."

From my own perspective, I might add: It's okay to play a little hard to get, whatever you think that cliché might mean. But playing the Osama bin Laden version of hard-to-get makes things much more difficult for us all.

In addition to being approachable, are we lingering a little bit longer at ward or singles events?

I realize, of course, that we're all busy and have lives outside of Church-related events and that people have things and jobs and homework, and some even have kids, while others have TiVo'd programs they'd like to get home to sometimes. Sometimes.

But even if it's just a few extra minutes, consider maybe spending a little bit more time at the meat market next time you go shopping. If you're going to be a carnivore, you'll find that's where the meat is.