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Many people have been asking about my social life recently, specifically about the ladies.

“Are there any girls in the picture? What’s the dating scene like there? Farmer’s daughters? Etc.”

As you must remember that I am in a freakin’ small town, and the town is starting to check out my blog more frequently, I shall tentatively and carefully give you an update now.

In short, I had all but written off having a social life when I took this job. After partying it up at bars in Manhattan, I didn’t expect to have many opportunities (if any) to meet and/or date anyone. For those of you who might be asking, “Wait, I thought Steve had a girlfriend…” Well, I kind of do. She’s a quasi girlfriend, in LA, but I’m still allowed to date. Best of both worlds, right honey?

For the most part, especially in my first few weeks, my original assumption turned out to be true. There is only one bar that I know of in/near town, The Sports Shack, which I went to once with said quasi girlfriend, Megan, while she was here. It’s new and actually pretty nice. They’ve got a shuffleboard, pool tables, and a bunch of HD TVs. And while it seems to be fairly happening on the weekends when I drive by (either to basketball games or to the casino), I refuse to go in there alone and fly solo. I mean, come on, I’m not going to be a creeper.

While many of my friends thought that I’d be somewhat of a high commodity when I arrived — a fairly smart, good-looking chap from the big city — I assure you that this was not the case…at least not for girls my own age. No one was flocking over to meet me. They probably just dismissed me as a West Coast hippie.

For some reason, I do seem to be pretty popular with ladies a generation or two older than me. While some seem eager to siphon me off to their daughters, others (and yes, they are married) seem to find me rather delicious. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Steve, you’re confusing Southern/Midwestern hospitality for flirting. Ahem, I may only be 22, but I’ve been around the block enough to know the difference. Still, I am not eager to get into any scandals around here. For the record, I will only date single girls between the ages of 19-25. (And to the redneck husbands out there who fear that their women are hitting on me, fear not. This is not an epidemic…yet.)

So, with that generation aside, let me speak a little bit about girls my own age. You know the stereotype that people get married young in the country? Well, it’s not a stereotype. There is a whole lot of truth to it. For research purposes (and I assure you it was very scientific), I MySpace searched girls in Stigler, ages 18-25. (I am much more of a Facebook guy, but Stigler isn’t an available network on the site.)

It seemed like every other entry was “Mrs. So-and So” and a frightening number of them had pregnant photos. This wasn’t just the case for the 25 year olds, there was an incredible amount of 18 and 19 years old who also fit this description. It almost seems like the 20-to-30-year-old dating scene is a void, a virtual black hole.

That said, I have occasionally stumbled into and met some cute girls who are in my age range (at least I’m pretty sure, I didn’t ask for an ID) and didn’t have a ring on their finger. I’m not going to say where I met them, because I don’t want my blog to be the way I pick up girls or at least indicate that I find them attractive. I like to think I have a little more self-respect than that. (Not much, but a tad more.)

So, that is my romance update for now. Nothing wild and crazy happening just yet. But as always, I will let you know.