May 30, 2025 • 59 mins
In this episode host Jess joins special guest Charlene as she bravely adventures into the world of small-town speed dating! encountering some extra "special" people, she manages to get through the challenges and has some great advice to offer to fellow single men/women that are amongst the dating world! Listen to her crazy story and share with her the support of being a kidney transplant survivor! Thank you for listening! #hbo #speeddating #single #viral #singlelife #podcast #cuttinloosechronicles #datinglife #datingstories #comedy
https://www.homesteadparks.com/event-details/speed-dating-3
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Episode Transcript
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(00:11):
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Welcome back to Cutting Loose
Chronicles podcast. I am your host Jess, and today's
show is going to be good becausetoday we are going to dive into
the wild world of speed dating. This is 2025, folks, and
apparently all it takes is 7 minutes to decide if you found
(00:34):
your soulmate or your next restraining order.
Today, live in the Cut News Chronicles podcast studio, we
have the beautiful, the lovely, the delicious, the elegant.
Miss Charlene Williams. Hey, Jess.
Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me.
You're welcome and it's my pleasure.
(00:54):
I have had the honor of knowing Miss Charlene for over 20 years
and I only get to see her maybe once every month.
Our time together is always so special to me because she keeps
me in stitches. Oh, but you do the same.
Oh, well, you know, I need you to just, I want you to share
(01:15):
with my listeners the joy that you give me and how we're going
to do it is Charlene has been saving herself for the right
man. She is a virgin, everyone.
After three. Children and she is living in a
material world and she is a Material Girl.
True, not. Just kidding.
(01:38):
I got, I got a little carried away, you know, Madonna,
Material World, like a virgin. I mean, it was a great era, 80s,
how do you go wrong? I agree and that is a whole
nother. Episode.
Oh yeah, Oh yeah. I would love to revisit, but
Charlene has decided after all these years.
And how many years has it been? I have been single, not dating
(01:59):
for over 20 years. 20 That's 22.0 Yikes Yikes.
I bet you went through a lot of batteries and I hope there are
double D's. Do they make double D batteries?
This I do not know. D's will suffice.
(02:19):
We don't need AAA's. Well, anyway, so lately Charlene
has been, has been telling me asshe comes in about her going to
speed dating. And when she told me about speed
dating, I didn't let her tell meanything because I knew that
that would be a good conversation to talk about.
Because let's face it, girls andguys, when you live in a small
(02:42):
town, there's and you get to a certain age group, there's Slim
Pickens. Wouldn't you agree?
Absolutely. They're either married or
they're, they're already committed or they are scary and
they're, they're crazy deranged and it's really hard to find the
right the right fit. The daily mug shots, I mean.
Not a good look. Some of them are handsome.
(03:03):
Let me ever do you do you check the local?
No, but it does pop up on your Facebook feed.
It does. It does sometimes.
I mean, sometimes they're people, you know?
That's interesting because I that is that is actually
entertaining when as when I'm doing hair and stuff, some of my
clients, they like to look at the mug shots and they look and
see the rest reports for who would just got arrested.
(03:25):
And I think I'm like, I look to see if there's people I know and
a lot of times I know. I don't search for them so I'm
not trying to find, but sometimes it just populates.
So yes, speed dating at my age or any age is probably a
challenge. Dating in itself is a challenge.
So before we get into the speed dating, tell us a little bit
about yourself. So I recently entered the 60th
(03:49):
chapter of my book. Yeah, I turned 60.
I turned 60. When you don't look it.
Well, God bless you. So at that point, I've been
single again for many, many, many years and my children are
all grown. They now have their own
children. I many years.
That was a reason why I didn't settle down into a relationship.
(04:12):
Very selfless, have you? Not that I didn't date a time or
two or three, but didn't dedicate to go into a
relationship. And so for my 60th birthday, I
love live music and one of my bucket list items was to go to
Nashville. So my daughter Alexis said well
let's plan a trip. And so we went as a group of
(04:35):
friends and we went to Nashvilleand had a great time.
And I came home and on again theFacebook feed pops up this ad
for a speed dating event locally.
The age group was 40 to 60. And I said, I'm not surprised.
Dear God, I'm like the last age.If I don't do it this time, I'm
(04:59):
going to be in the group that's searching their next certified
nursing assistant or I'm going to be somebody's caretaker.
And I didn't want that. So I, I quickly talked to my
daughter and said, what do you think?
She goes sign up. So I did good, good advice.
Yeah. And she encouraged me and she
(05:19):
said, Mom, I want you to find somebody that's your person or
at least go out on some dates, have some adult.
Conversations. I agree.
I've been telling you that for years.
You have you, absolutely. Charlene would come in and I'd
say so. You talking to anybody?
Nope, I said nobody at all. Nope.
I said OK, don't you have needs?And she never answers.
So I guess we all know what we have to do if we have needs.
(05:42):
But that's very selfless. Selfless of you to choose to not
bring. Yeah.
You know, or, but it's not terrible if anyone does have,
you can still have children, youknow, and raise them and still
have a relationship. Doesn't make you a selfish
person. But you know, there's times when
you put those people before yourchildren and you know, and, and
(06:05):
then you don't make your kids number one, right?
And that can happen to people. Absolutely.
So you learned about speed dating locally.
Where are you from? Where do you live?
Tell everyone. So I live in Dunnellon now.
Dunnellon's an interesting area.It's definitely not a
metropolis. Dunnellon, FL everyone.
And so you can live in the city limits and there's 1600 people.
(06:27):
You can live in the Levy County part of Dunnellon, you can live
in the Marion County Dunnellon, or you can live in the Citrus
County. Probably in totality, maybe
you're looking at 60,000 people,which that sounds like a lot of
people. We just had a big boom, by the
way, that was doubled in this past couple of years.
Oh, so now I believe. They call that a tri-county
area. I believe so.
(06:48):
I have always been possibly a workaholic where I dedicate
Monday through Friday to whomever I'm working for.
I'm at 100%. So when you get home, there's no
time to kind of think about, oh,I think I want to go on a date
or try to throw myself out there.
So I have remained single for a long, long time.
(07:09):
And now I just said, you know what, I think it's OK.
I think it's time. I'd like to see if I can find
that someone special, kind of like my friend Jess and her
Someone special. Yeah, you're right and I have
found someone special. Now the speed dating is out of
Williston, FL. It's not, it's, it's really
scary to take that plunge. You don't know what you're
getting into. And so I, I applaud you for
(07:33):
having the courage to do it. So you see that in Williston,
FL, You see it's speed dating. What did you do?
Do you have to make an appointment?
Well, you do have to sign up. You had to pay.
Online. I think you did it via text and
Venmo or whatever. Now, do you see it online?
Like like, how can you find thatthere's speed dating going on in
(07:53):
your area? So it popped up, populated on
Facebook as an event for this place called Homestead in
Williston. And I'm familiar with the venue.
So I thought, OK, it's right up the road, it's not far, and it
was early enough. Was it like at 11:00?
What time was it? I think we had to be there by
(08:15):
6:00, so you had to register andat some point they cut off
because they only allow so many people.
How many people they so I when I, when I watch it some videos,
it's usually at least they say on there don't be discouraged as
only four people show up. Don't cancel because only four
people are signed up. It's always something good comes
(08:36):
out of it. So, but usually they typically
like about 8 males, 8 females. We don't use pronouns here,
everyone, so we do males and females.
Abso freaking lutely. And so there was about.
Ten. I would say 10 and 10 possibly.
Oh, that's a that's a big doubt.OK, good, good.
OK. And with your admission, you got
(08:57):
a free drink ticket. Alcohol.
Yes. So I had a glass of wine OK,
which helped. Did they do you have to pay for
that or does it do you think you?
I think the 25 allows you to attend the event and you also
get that ticket for. Is $25 a person?
Yes. I would like you to know that
Cut Moose Chronicles podcast would like to fund your next
(09:20):
speed state. I have just stutter it up would
like to fund your next speed date.
Wow are you serious? But can I bring a live camera
crew? It would make for great TV.
Wouldn't it? It surely would.
So $25 a person, you get a free drink?
(09:41):
Yes, just one free drink. Yes, you have to buy your
others. OK.
Yes, All right. Would you call this affordable?
This whole? Yeah.
I mean if you think $25 you can go anywhere to eat and you don't
leave usually less than $25.00. So investing in yourself for $25
I felt was. Do you get snacks?
No, you. Don't want food in your teeth
(10:02):
anyway. You don't, I mean.
You probably don't want to watchother people eat.
God forbid there's poppy seeds in something and you smile real
big. That would be my biggest
nightmare, yes. What did you decide to wear and
how did you decide what? You wanted to wear Wow, so that
was a whole episode in itself. That would be something for me
too. So again, my daughter encouraged
(10:23):
me and so she would see me throughout the week or two weeks
prior to the event and I wear something.
She's like, Oh my gosh, that looks so cute.
You should wear that for your speed dating.
Well, one of them was a dress that I had worn to church on a
Sunday and I was like, oh, I don't really know what the.
Dress more than 50 buttons. Ditch it.
So no, it was a pullover. It was.
(10:43):
It was very nice. If it goes higher than your
chin, ditch it. So you're looking for a man, not
your next evangelist. Hey, I am not like Dana Carvey,
the church lady. Oh my God, I wish you were.
No, no. So that is a whole nother show.
(11:04):
So I ended up, I think I ended up wearing jeans and a shirt and
a jacket and it was just more ofa casual event, which was nice
because then she sent out something saying the dress is
casual so. Did you show any skin?
I had my hands exposed. I think I had open toed shoes
(11:24):
on. OK, so cut loose Chronicles
podcast would like to not only fund your next speed date but
bring a nice live camera crew and I would like to dress you.
Oh my. Well.
The little black book will be full, I promise you.
No, no, I'm picturing you and you look fabulous, so.
(11:46):
Yeah, it made, it was good because it made me feel
comfortable. Did you wear hoop earrings?
I wore dangles. No hoops?
Good. No hoops.
You know what they say about hoops?
No, the bigger bit. The bigger the hoop, the bigger
the the. Bigger the hoop, the bigger the
hoe. I.
Heard that, you know, I just learned that that's this old I.
(12:08):
Actually just heard that recently from my friend at work.
So you walked in. I walked in.
I want to know, paint the scene.What did it look like?
How were you feeling? What energy was in the room?
OK, so basically this event venue is on your way to
Gainesville and it's a glorified, beautiful pole born
(12:33):
pole barn. It's got a dance floor, OK.
It's got. It's got a bar that's got wine
based drinks that sounds bad. And then on the outskirts of the
bar you've got different there'san axe throwing place, there's a
little mini golf putting range in front of you, there's some
(12:54):
little boutiques pop up and thenfood vendors.
It is a very nice place. It's called what?
It's called the Homestead. Oh yeah, you know, I was born in
Homestead, FL Off, off. That doesn't matter.
The Homestead. That's cute.
So definitely low key, it was nice because you walk in and
you're thinking, OK, not everybody in the room knows
(13:17):
you're walking in for what you're walking.
In Were you greeted? Was there a host?
No, there's no host. So how did you know what to do?
Because the lady who coordinatedit gave you great directions on
when you arrive. This is where you go.
You'll meet me, you'll sign in. I'll give you your ticket.
They also gave you your famous. Not not so famous.
(13:38):
Hello. My name is Just stick on Your
Chest, Yes. Yeah.
And then you got your drink ticket and you got to go to the
bar. So then of course, now you're
standing in. Do you see?
Gentlemen callers there, do you see them there?
Right, so now you're seeing those that have the Hello, my
name is. And then your other competition
for the females. Absolutely.
(13:58):
And then you're looking around going darn, why doesn't that
person have hello, my name is. And in walks his wife.
So you know, that's it's, it's an open venue.
It's not just hosting this event.
So the actual speed dating is done behind this in its own
private tent area. OK, so you walk in and you
(14:21):
already have instructions. The reason why I'm being so and
I detailed is because I've been talking about this for the past
couple of weeks and there's a lot of people who responded to
the speed dating that are singleand looking and they were they
were nervous about it. They didn't have the guts to do
it. So I told them about this
episode and they want me to sendthis episode to them and they
(14:41):
want to hear it. So I think this could be really
good for the Homestead area and it's Williston, FL listeners and
anybody who's local or anybody who's coming into Florida in
our, in our, we're in North Central Florida and you want to
do something like this. It's in Williston, FL, just shy
of Gainesville. So come on and check it out.
(15:01):
If you're single. So you, you walk in, you already
told what to do. You can see your competition.
You said it's 40 through 60. Yes, that was the age group I
went. I think she hosts other age
groups at different times. OK.
So 40 to 60, so you could be in there you being you're 50.
(15:21):
I'm 60. That's right.
You're 60, but you're comp, you're competing with women who
are 40, is that correct? Correct.
Not that there is. Sometimes you can't even tell
people are 40 or 60 because 60 is a new 30, you know, So it
doesn't matter. But I just want to paint the
picture. And then you see the men.
Now, how many would you say were60 for the men?
(15:48):
For the men. I think it's a pretty steep age
group bracket I think. I thought so too.
I think it should be 20 to 30 and then I think it should be 30
to 40 and then 40 to 50 and then60 to 70.
Oh, no, no. Well, there's plenty of a lot of
seniors that wives or husbands have passed.
(16:10):
They're good people and they don't want someone as young as
you, right? Or or 50 or 40.
And I really, I think there's a huge market.
We live in a retirement community, right?
You know, so I do think that in fact, I'm actually interested in
hosting a speed dating. I think you would be fantastic.
I would love to, yes, because preparing for this episode, I
(16:31):
did a lot of research and I watched a lot of videos and I
thought I could do this, absolutely.
And it brings joy, absolutely. And I can make it fun.
I am going to make it fun. I really want to do this.
I want to put on a speed dating.In my area, people turn to speed
dating because they're tired of dating apps where everyone's
(16:52):
profile says there are fluent and sarcasm and love long walks
on the beach, blah blah blah. Or maybe they tried online
dating and realized that entrepreneur really means entre
manure. I think dating apps are OK, but
speed dating, that gives you a little something extra, a little
something to look forward to, and then it's face to face.
(17:12):
You can sit down and you can talk to anybody you want to talk
to. I don't think speed dating is
good. I don't think it's bad because I
think it's freaking great. I'm glad they offer it in our
area, and I think more people should do it.
The beauty of speed dating is that you can meet every flavor
of human disaster in one convenient evening and the
person who somehow makes eye contact feel like a hostage
situation. Speed dating is like a dating
(17:34):
buffet. You get to sample every little
flavor. On that note, I would like to
introduce to you someone Charlene met while she was out
on her speed date. Folks, this guy is something.
Listen to this. I would like to introduce to you
Franklin Shorshot. Hi, Charlene, I'm Franklin
(17:57):
Shorshot. Hi Franklin Shorshot, tell me
something about yourself. Sure, sure.
What would you like to know? I'm Franklin Shorshot.
I have cats. Lots of cats.
Did you know that I run a cat rescue out of my mom's one
bedroom apartment in the downtown area?
I'm allergic to cats. The name's Franklin Shorshot.
(18:18):
It's very interesting name. What is that?
Scandinavian. I was found in a bag of kittens.
Oh well, I'm, I'm so sorry, a bag of kittens.
What is your culture? I'm not sure.
My Papa. I don't know who my Papa is.
Oh well, I'm I'm so sorry. Listen, I brought cats with me.
I'm running a special. I'll give you 1 and you get a
(18:41):
second one for free. That's the shore shot guarantee
because I'm Franklin shore shot.It, you know, I have to say, for
me, it was scary at first, but Ichallenged myself and I said I'm
going to do this for me. I'm going to overcome my fear
(19:01):
because worst case scenario, I walk out and I've met 10
different people, 10 different personalities.
Some may have had multiple personalities, but it got me out
there. I did something for me by
myself, without anyone. And that's why I'm applauding
you. I know you and I know that's not
(19:23):
easy. And you, I know you don't think
I tell you I'm shy all the time and you don't believe me, but I
am. In my own way.
I would have a hard time. It would be hard on me.
I don't think it's hard on anybody to put yourself out
there like you are. And, and I'm glad you bring that
up because I don't consider myself shy at all.
I'm very outgoing. I have a very outgoing
(19:43):
personality. I am the kind of person that if
we're both in the grocery store and I will strike up a
conversation. So that part wasn't scary for
me. It was the fact, I guess back to
not wanting to feel like I was in competition because I believe
that people come into your life for a reason, a season or a
(20:03):
lifetime. I do too.
So I just felt like this was my way of saying, you know what,
it's OK, it's your time. If you end up with someone
liking you, great. If you don't, it's OK because
you like yourself. You're a good person.
That's great. Let's go, right for let's dig
right into it. Let's go.
So you're there, all the people are there, and it's time to
start the speed date. It is.
(20:25):
It has a bell. OK, so go from there.
Tell us what happens. OK, so they have the room set up
in this white tent and it's a huge shape with tables.
So the women were on the outsideand the men were on the inside.
So you started with someone in front of you.
Now I had prepared my own questions because I thought I
should have my own questions. Now you are supposed to do that,
(20:47):
right? Well, they provided you with
questions and so in my first experience with this, I didn't
get to use any of my questions because it goes by rather
quickly. Do you have to follow suit?
Do you have to do what they say to do?
You don't I think. I think it was to help those
that wouldn't know what to do you quickly or I quickly started
(21:09):
to believe that this was not their first rodeo for some of
them because they actually had almost memorized the whole list
of questions that we just all got that night.
So you would talk to somebody and find out like, oh, no, this
is not the first time. I do this all the time.
Oh, OK. And then some of them you didn't
(21:30):
even get a chance to ask a question.
And you've been with those people where it starts out with.
Hi, my name is Timothy. Oh, Timothy, can I call you Tim?
And then some of his other personalities came out and
quickly shut me down to say absolutely not.
Oh my gosh, so that that explains why he's been to so
many speed dates and not found amatch.
(21:51):
So how many? How long do you get at each?
I was like like tables you go to1 table.
You no it's. It's basically pop up tables
that are in the in a goose shape.
So I'm on the outside, the men are on the inside.
I don't even know that it was 7 minutes because it seemed
quicker than that. And then you start having a
dialect back and forth, hopefully.
(22:13):
And then the bell rings and you've got your little sheet in
front of you and you have to check yes or no and write their
name down. And you had an opportunity to
write notes. But what happens is that person
gets up and literally now sits right here next to you.
OK, so it's not far away. So the other challenge too was I
could hear what they said to theperson before me.
(22:34):
I see that's not I would do it all different.
Yes it would be like voting booths privacy.
I'd have candles lit, romantic saxophone playing like with the
80s sax music, and, you know, I would be encouraging matches.
OK, Timothy. So you sit down with Timothy.
You ask him, Hi, Timothy. I'm so and so I'm, I'm Charlene.
(22:56):
Do you ever you, you what are some of the questions you have
to ask? What do they give you?
What kind of questions? Oh, one of them.
First question the guy asked waswhat radio station is on your is
in your car? I said, well, I listen to
Pandora. You know, that's important.
(23:17):
Music is very. Yeah, music tells a lot about.
Absolutely. So then they said, oh, OK, well,
what do you listen to? Well, I have an eclectic choice
of music that I like. It all depends what mood I'm in
and how long I'm driving and where I'm going.
And so it could be anything fromFleetwood Mac to Maroon 5.
It could be the Eagles, it couldbe, it could be some hip hop.
(23:41):
It definitely is going to be country, but it's not all
country. It's not all hip hop, it's not
all so I. Like a plethora.
Of different kinds of music. Did he?
Was he pleased with the response?
No. Oh.
He wanted only hip hop, hippity hippity, hip, hip hop and don't
stop bopping till the Bang Bang music.
(24:02):
Oh hell no. How old was he?
I don't think we discussed that right away.
He was a quick. He only landed hip hop to the
get stopped to the bitty bitty bop.
Yeah, to the Bang Bang boogie. What a goo goo goofy guy.
He needs like, OK, so that's so.There was no.
(24:23):
No, that was not. That wasn't Tim.
No. Who was that guy?
I. Don't even remember his name.
OK, because he wasn't a check the box.
Yes. No.
OK, tell me about Tim. OK, because you can't, you can't
call him Tim. You can't.
Why? Well, apparently Timothy has a
trigger with the word Tim that goes back to his childhood when
(24:46):
his mom was divorced and marriedher new husband, who was a drill
Sergeant and shipped Timothy offto boarding school.
Not because he was bad, but because he didn't want him
around. And then when he would see
Timothy, he would berate him andcall him names that are women's
parts. Well, not really, but it's a
derogatory term of a woman's part.
(25:09):
And. Start therapy or speed dating.
That's what it felt like. I was very what kind?
Of question was asked for him tohave that response.
If I triggered him by saying oh,hi, nice to meet you, Timothy,
Do you go by Timothy or Tim? Oh.
God. Now, prior to Timothy sitting
down with Charlene, he bragged to the woman in front of me
(25:29):
about how he lived on a sailboatand had all this money.
And so he was in a totally different lane with that one.
And that's fine. He was very boastful, very
materialistic. I could hear all that happening
because my poor guy, the minute I said I didn't listen to hip
hop fully, he was disengaged andI felt bad for him.
But I was hoping for the bell toring and then enters Timothy and
(25:53):
I didn't. Tell him you like the song Me So
Horny by Two live Crew. Did not.
I told him that that is one of your favorite songs.
And. I would have never told him I
love that song. So he got up and he left and I
got Timothy and it was just quite shocking.
(26:14):
You know, it's so OK, So that's that guy.
Yeah. Tell me about your next one.
Oh, there were so many differentpersonalities and so oh, I do
have to give a plug for something else.
For those of you looking for a great show, I encourage you to
watch Netflix show Love on the Spectrum, especially those who
are looking to do speed dating because they actually coach
(26:38):
these adults that have autism that are on all different venues
or I don't know what the correctword is, but they were on all
different sides of the spectrum.Some live on their own, some
still live at home, some have full time jobs.
It's a really cool show and the thing that I learned is they're
(26:59):
very blunt and they're very honest and they just say what
they think. I've heard about this and and
noted and I do need to it's it'sa series so.
There's there's only three episodes or I'm sorry, three
seasons. And ironically, it's a
documentary. So none of them are paid to do
this. And what I also found, if you
(27:21):
remember back to the movie Pretty Woman, not Pretty Woman,
sorry, my best friend's wedding where every guy she was with, if
he liked eggs Benedict, then allof a sudden that was her
favorite breakfast. She was a chameleon, right?
Yeah, and I definitely don't want to be a chameleon.
(27:43):
I don't want, I want to be able at this stage of my life to say
I don't like eggs Benedict, but knock your socks off if you
would like some cool. So the love on the spectrum kind
of prepared me to be able to sayit's OK to say I don't like
that. Did you start Love on the
Spectrum before? Speeding.
I didn't finish the series, but it encouraged me to say, you
(28:05):
know what? Go Oh, poor Charlene.
Poor Charlene. You know, so far there's hope.
There's hope, she's thinking. OK, that was PD Surely the next
guy will be normal, right? Maybe someone who doesn't
collect belly button lint or thinks deodorant is optional.
(28:28):
She's moving to the next table, putting on her best.
She sits down across from a guy who introduces himself as John
B, and Charlene thinks John B. That sounds normal.
Maybe this is it. Maybe this is it.
Maybe my luck is turning around.Let's see, guys, let's see.
Listen to this. Hello.
(28:49):
Hi there. Hello.
My name is Charlene. Tell me about yourself.
I don't tell anything about myself.
Oh, OK. I'm sorry.
And you are looking at me. In my country, women do not look
me in the eyes. The name is John B.
Oh my, that's a problem, becauseI'm all about the eyes.
What country are you from? John BI.
(29:11):
Cannot be specific, but it ends in Stan.
Oh, OK. How long have you been in
America? Six months.
What do you do for a living? I I'm feeling rather
uncomfortable talking to a womanwho's looking me in the eyes.
John B don't look woman in the eye.
They came to this country to drive a taxi and how everything
(29:32):
Uber don't have smartphone, justflip.
John B drives a taxi. OK, what city you drive in?
What? Where do you live in America?
This make me uncomfortable. I am here.
I'm here at this Bob Evans because I was told the coffee is
good and you are just sitting here with me.
I don't understand what's going on.
John B Confused. Oh, John B, I'm so sorry.
(29:54):
I don't want to make you feel UNcomfortable.
We just wanted. I come into this restaurant, I
sit down and all of a sudden allof these women are sitting at
table with me and looking me in the eye.
And Zombie's country. That's just not allowed do.
You have children. Zombie has so many children.
Don't know. Zombie does not know how many
(30:14):
children. Zombie has been married 7 times
at the same time. That's Zombie's country.
Zombie's rules now be gone. You know, I had that same kind
of reaction, but it was to the show.
Nip tuck. Oh yeah, OK.
I got my boobs done after that. Oh, maybe I need to watch that
next. You know what I want to specify
(30:35):
breast reduction. Oh, I'm not a I'm not a hoochie.
Oh, so that is very good advice.So love on the spectrum.
I have heard that from several people and that's that's really
good. So do you suggest taking notes?
Can you take notes? Do you bring a notebook?
No, they provide you with this sheet of paper, but you don't
(30:58):
have enough time to take notes. And what's interesting, Can you
imagine that you are on a speed date and now Mr. Hip Hop?
Early on I realized like there is no chemistry, there is no
physical attraction, there's no mental attraction.
I already know this guy's a no, but being a lady and being kind
hearted, I didn't want to check no right in front of them.
(31:20):
So you have to wait, and then when he gets up, you quickly
check now and go on to the next one.
Now you could write notes. If I said, say, I liked hip hop,
yes, I liked him because we share the same kind of music.
Or he's got beautiful blue eyes.Or did he have beautiful?
Blue eyes no. Do you did anyone, any other
ladies kind of bond with you or anybody that was there any men
(31:44):
and say I've been here before, that guy's crazy.
Ironically, not that, but I walked in and I was at the bar
to grab my Moscato and as I turned around, someone I knew
was there, a female. I like her, she's a great
person. And so we each greeted each
(32:06):
other, gave a big hug, and I said to her in her ear, Oh my
gosh, are you here for the same reason I am?
And she says I am. And I said, well I'm so happy.
So that was nice and that now wesat on opposite sides.
So then what was interesting is you would get breaks because
three of the guys didn't show upon time.
(32:28):
One forgot, one got cold feet, and I don't know what the other
one was. They eventually show up, but
they're late. So that kind of set off the
whole dynamics of the evening. So some of us took breaks
waiting. And so when you first started,
how many females were there? All ten were there.
Women were all there. The three men?
(32:49):
Yeah. Just three men.
Those men could have had a full sausage party if they wanted to.
Three men were late to the party.
OK, so then there was how many men when you first got there?
7. OK, that's OK.
But those three men, did they jump right in?
One of them did. I don't like the organization of
your speed date session. I'm not Downing.
(33:11):
I guess I kind of sound like I'mPooh poohing on the one at
Wilson. I am really interested in
putting on speed dating but I would have way more organization
privacy. Well, I think they do a great
job, but I like where you're going where I would have liked
it a little differently. You can't get to know somebody
(33:31):
if you have other people listening.
Yeah, that was kind of distracting for me because, like
I said, in the Timothy world, I got two different versions of
the same person. I'm glad I saw the version I
did, because I'm not sure if thegirl to my right checked.
Yes, because he dazzled her withhis money and his portfolio and
all of those things. Hopefully she paid attention
(33:52):
when I saw the poltergeist that came out, but who knows.
It's like being in school again and you have an essay and then
whenever you're done, you just take it up to the desk and you
can just leave the classroom. And the last person there who's
got the ADHD or the ADD and theyhave a hard time taking tests.
And then they see all the, all they can do is see all these
people done and they're walking up to the desk.
(34:14):
And then you just, you start Christmas training your tests
and you flunk. Or you get a lot of deaths or a
lot of dates. Or you need a 54 plan or a five
O 4 plan. I want to.
I'm going to have five O 4 plansat speed dating at mine when I
organize mine. I think I mean I'm interested.
I would sign up for yours. I know because I'm going to need
(34:35):
you, because I really think thatyou're going to help me.
I think you're going to help me do this.
I have plans for us. Oh.
OK, so go in back. So the the the clingers that the
the losers. But wait, I got one more.
I got to tell you. The one guy though, I'm going to
give him a get out of jail free card.
The one who got cold feet. Yeah, that was fine.
(34:56):
I will talk about him in a moment, but I have to tell you
about the one that was very interesting.
I want to hear about all of them.
Well, OK, the one guy, he sat down, he was my last, and it
started something like this. Hi, I'm Charlene.
What's your name? My name is Ben.
My name is Ben Benjamin. Ben.
Ben. Ben.
Ben, Ben. And The Jets.
(35:19):
I'm from New York City, NYC, BigApple, Studio 54.
I mean, he was a whole entertainment package in just
one box. You just so, he said.
Oh my. God, I didn't even get to ask
anything. It was just sit back, relax and
enjoy the show. I wonder.
What he's like in bed. I'm not sure.
I'm not sure that's. Like a Jack rabbit.
(35:40):
Yeah, that would be all over theplace.
So you didn't find out? No, no, he was a no.
So he sat down at Studio 54, BenBenny in the church, just so.
Then he proceeded to say different things that were just
way, just way off course. Aliens.
(36:02):
Extraterrestrial. Activities He was abducted.
Yes. I need his number.
I need an as. I've been wanting someone who's
been abducted by aliens on my show for real.
I'm sorry I can't help you with that.
Why is it all confidential? Yeah.
Is it really? Do you have to sign a paper?
Do you have to sign a paper? You do have to sign a paper and
(36:22):
so the next day or two after this event, they contact you and
either say you passed or you failed.
No, they say you actually match with one person, two people,
whatever. OK.
Would you would? You OK before we get to that,
that doesn't fall into my my interview.
I'm so sorry, I'm out of sorts. So they give you paper for
(36:45):
taking notes. You can take notes.
When do you get to ask the questions that you want to know?
I unfortunately didn't get to ask my one question.
Which which was I want to know what is your top three questions
that you want to know? Well, it was more and listen,
not single men it. Was an ice breaker question of
like tell me, do you live at home with your wife or your
(37:07):
mother? Good one.
Good. Necessary.
Yes, because guess what? It could be either or both.
Did you get any of that? I never even.
Bothered to ask that question. OK, no, OK #2.
I think music is important. What's your idea of a good time?
(37:28):
Perfect. What kind of music do you listen
to when you're happy, When you're sad?
When you're cleaning the house. I want to know that too.
Yes. Yes, you can.
I you know what? I damn it, I wish I was a single
man. Oh, Jess, don't flatter me.
Is that the next episode? OK, so you have these questions.
(37:53):
You didn't get to ask these questions, but did anybody offer
any of the answers to your questions just because they sat
down and told you? And I'm not talking about but
but, but Betty and the Jet Guy Never.
Or the Crocodile Rock. Ever forget them?
No, a lot of so a lot of the time that you've got and if it
(38:14):
was 7 minutes again, I apologize.
I really don't know what the time frame was, but you almost
didn't get enough time to reallyget to talk back and forth is
what I felt. I felt I get the concept of
speed dating, but I think more of like I'd like 15 minutes of a
conversation, like do an icebreaker and have a
(38:35):
conversation. So I learned a lot about where
people worked, what they did fora living, if they needed some
therapy, whether it. Was sounds like they need some
therapy. Right.
So it wasn't, it wasn't a lot ofdialogue like you could if you
were just out somewhere and struck up a conversation with
(38:57):
someone. And that's really more of what I
guess I'm looking for. It's just conversations with
people to find out what you'd it's OK to have differences.
I don't want someone who wants everything I do or likes
everything I do. I want new experiences and I
want them to. If they say they don't like
country music, maybe let them listen to something I do like.
(39:19):
Or if they say they like, I don't know, Insane Clown Posse,
Not saying I'm going to like them but maybe I'll listen to
them and I'll find a song or twothat sounds great.
So it's more of a I'm not looking for someone to fit in a
box. But you're willing also to to
broaden your horizons. You're OK to compromise and meet
in the middle. Well, that's a successful
(39:39):
relationship, by the way. That is the recipe for a
successful relationship. Compromise, communication, then
love. Yes, I want a friend I want I
don't want just an instant chemistry.
Everything goes off and that sounds great.
Those things are wonderful and Ithink it's important to have
(40:00):
passion and love and. And be able to understand each
other physically and emotionally.
Do you think you can go without sex?
So you got the you got this guy,you meet him and everything's
great, but he can't perform. Are you, are you the kind of
person that can adapt to that? Is that is that a deal breaker
(40:21):
for you? And this is not just you in but
general, This is for a lot of people, because this comes up a
lot in relationships and some people say, oh, I, I can't do
that. I have to have sex.
Do you have to have sex? Obviously not, because it's been
a long time. I would probably need the
instructional manual. Not really, but it's been a long
(40:44):
time. So do I base something based on
sex? Absolutely not.
Would I want a relationship, an adult relationship that was also
very passionate? Absolutely.
Passion to me could be making out.
Yeah. I think that's so underrated.
(41:04):
Making out is underrated. I like baking out too.
I think a a nice kiss, a kiss onthe forehead.
Absolutely a slow dance in the kitchen.
Fingers in the areas that you need tongues.
Tongues get back to professional, gentle kisses,
holding hands, holding each other at night, you know, and,
(41:27):
and really, there's things called toys.
Well, I mean, I think when you have that basis, honestly, then
the sex could become absolutely wonderful and exciting and all
of those things. Just because I have three
children doesn't mean I had the greatest sex life.
I don't think I knew what sex was until way past that because
(41:52):
back in my day, not only did they not teach you about skin
care, but as a woman you really were not supposed to enjoy.
That remember Debbie that workedat my shop.
Debbie, I'm not going to say last name, but she used to tell
me that her grandma used to tellher.
She was given her advice. Now, Debbie, you're going to get
(42:12):
married one day and you're goingto have your things that you're
supposed to do for your husband,right?
So if he gets in the mood, you just lay there and grin and bear
it. Yes.
And she just thought that was the funniest thing ever.
Grin and Barrett, that's how it was back then.
But really, when you're young, you don't have the
self-confidence that you have. And this is from men, women and
(42:35):
men. So you don't know your body or
you're getting to learn your body, or you might be insecure
with your body. You don't want, you're not ready
to do face down your booty in the air, you know?
But it comes with age, it comes with experience, and
self-confidence is something that's very hard to have, very
hard to get a hold of. Not everybody gets it.
(42:58):
So if you get to have the chanceto have self-confidence, that's
a wonderful thing. Yeah, I'm not there, but I hope
one day before I'm 93. Well, you should because you
look fantastic. You look you, you take, you're
taking care of yourself. We will dig deeper into some of
(43:18):
the challenges that you've had through your journey cause with
some health problems overcoming them, you know, and I'm proud of
you for it. I've never allowed myself to be
a victim no matter what, no matter what is going on in any
chapter of the story. And there's been a few chapters
that are dramatic, frightening, physically, emotionally,
(43:41):
mentally, all of those things, but I've never allowed myself to
be a victim. I'm thankful for every day I've
had. I feel like I look back at my
life and say I've been blessed immeasurably.
As far as how health challenges,I've never been that one that
focuses on that. I I work through it.
(44:01):
I am faithful and believe that there is someone other than me
that got me through it. And I'm not, I don't know, I'm
glass half full kind of person, always have been.
And I think attitude is more important sometimes than
medicine. And you could hear whatever you
want from the doctor. And I remember one time they
(44:23):
said you're not out of the woods, and I said I didn't even
know I was in the woods. Two years ago, Charlene.
About two years ago. Seven years ago.
Seven years ago, Charlene went under major surgery.
She had a kidney transplant. It was life or death, and she
survived it. And she is alive today, looking
(44:47):
great, healthy, still has thingsyou have to do I'm sure.
Actually, I'm thankful I I have to take daily medicine.
Yes, I'll be on anti rejection meds for the rest of my life.
But I got sick from a cold, a cold that attacked my body,
(45:08):
became an autoimmune and attacked my kidneys and I was in
kidney failure and I never missed a day of work.
I had looked back over the five year period and said, well, how
did I get so sick? I'm thankful because then my
kids started having kids and I was able to be present instead
of not only did I get the diagnosis because actually I was
(45:30):
collecting money for the Donnellan Chamber annual
Boomtown event where I passed out in the parking lot before
walking into a business, broke both my hands, was worried about
getting my nail fixed and takingthe asphalt out of my hands that
then I followed up with a doctorbecause my hands were both
broken and they did some blood work and said, Charlene, you're
(45:52):
in kidney failure. So what?
How am I in kidney failure? So I went through biopsies.
They thought it was the C word. It was not.
And that's when I was discoveredto have an autoimmune from a
cold that settled into my kidneys and attacked them.
So at that point I was working for a bank and the bank had been
(46:15):
sold and I had a high level job,a lot of stress company had
changed their course of really caring about people.
And now we are all just numbers and machines.
And I stayed with the company and chose the type of dialysis
that a lot of people are not familiar with.
It's called peritoneal, and you actually use your peritoneum in
(46:37):
your stomach as a filter. So every night for 11 hours,
seven days a week, I hooked up to Mr. Wonderful, which was my
dialysis machine, and it was adjacent to my bed and it only
allowed me to go 20 feet to the restroom.
So I would joke that I was in a very controlling relationship
(46:59):
because to me, humor gets me through a lot of things as well.
Well, since you say that, when you said Mr. Wonderful, I
thought you're going to tell us about your vibrator.
No, no, no, not that one. This was the dialysis Mr.
Wonderful. And so anyway, Long story short,
I did that for seven years before six years, I'm sorry,
(47:20):
before I got the call that therewas a match.
But I believe looking back when I've been, I'm on dialysis, the
new company tells me we no longer need you, but if you get
better, please come back. So now I lost my job, lost my
car, lost all the things that were materialistic.
But what I gained, I got to be ahands on Mimi.
(47:45):
I got to be fully invested in myson's daughter, who was born on
the West Coast. Chris.
Yes, and he had beautiful Harper.
I was there for the sonogram. I was there for the first month,
the 1st birthday, all the things.
And so in retrospect, looking back again, if I was still in
(48:07):
that high level position, it would be, oh, I can't take any
more time off. Oh, I don't have any more
vacation time. And so that's how I've looked at
that chapter of my life or chapters, I should say.
So now I'm healthy, I have a clean bell of health.
I'm enjoying a glass of wine with you.
(48:28):
I. Mine's non alcoholic but yours
is full full full. Potent.
Full yes. You know what, Charlie, you've
been what my, you've been one ofmy mentors throughout time,
throughout our friendship. And you're, you're, there's a
couple of you, but you're one ofthem.
And you've always guided me. And the bank that you worked at,
I followed you. I was at the first bank you
(48:50):
worked at. And then when you went to the
other bank, I followed you to that bank.
And I didn't follow you because of the bank.
I followed because of you. I wanted to be where you are.
You are a bright star. You are motivation.
I can always count on you to make me feel good.
I know that when I look at you, that you've got my best
interests at heart and that you really truly care about me and
(49:11):
love me. There's not a lot of people out
there that are like that. You are one of those people.
Thank you. Back to the speed dating.
OK now. So did you find anybody that you
liked? OK, so no.
So then I felt peer pressure because I was like, oh, OK, so
the last guy that came in late, remember late, he came to me
(49:35):
second. Now he only had a minute and a
half because she had a timeline of when we had to end this
event. So I got a minute and a half to
learn his first name, where he worked, and he apologized for
being late. Was he handsome?
He was nice. Nice looking, yes?
So I he was, he's handsome, he was nice.
(49:58):
No. Nice looking.
On a scale of one to 10, one being ugly, 10 being Gaga, what
number was he at? He was probably a 7 1/2, Very
nice. He was nice looking.
Nice, yeah. Absolutely, but I I liked he was
quiet. Describe as build.
Probably 511 that had some bulk on him.
(50:21):
Wasn't a gym rat or so it just seemed like a very down to earth
nice looking guy. Was he from the area?
Transplant from work. His work moved him to this area.
Did he have a wedding band suntan?
Not that I noticed at the time, but wait for that stuff.
Wait. I looked, I looked.
(50:42):
So I did check yes on him because I felt like he never got
the full 7 minutes or whatever it is, right?
He's that full 7 minutes now so.So we end up getting I get a
call 2 days later and said hey guess what you and so and so
both checked yes and I said oh OK so we communicated it was his
(51:05):
first name John like Travolta. You're making that up.
We ended up meeting at Chili's and we spent two solid hours
just getting to know each other,talking.
So you had a date so. Yeah.
Oh, wait. OK, well, we gotta start over.
No, no. So you, you had the speed date.
How'd you so you OK, So you guysboth checked?
Yes. So then the coordinator there
(51:25):
shares your numbers. With these just the listeners.
So she's confusing you and I hadto bring her back.
Thank you. Thank you for keeping me in
line. Because we're getting ready to
hear about the night of passion and I can't wait.
OK, so the coordinator. OK, so the coordinator says you,
you know you and so and so said.Both said yes.
(51:48):
OK great now I said yes because I just shared with you why.
I don't know why he said yes, maybe he felt the same way.
We sit down at the towards the end of the meal.
He then says something about on again, off again relationship
with someone and they just offedagain.
And it was just a month ago. And the truth was he wasn't
(52:10):
really late because he was working late.
He got cold feet. Now my answer was, I appreciate
your honesty. You know, thank you for telling
me that. That's very nice.
But obviously, I don't think you're in a place that you
should try to start dating. Maybe you need to kind of close
that chapter first, because his answer was, yeah, I'm not sure
(52:33):
I'm done. Oh geez.
Yeah, yeah. Get the F out of here.
Right, stay in your cold feet home.
Take a hike dude. How about your new girlfriend?
How would she feel about that? Women do it too, so it's not
just men. That no, no, no.
And I don't think honestly, honestly, I don't think he did
it maliciously. I think maybe he thought in his
(52:54):
heart of hearts, because maybe he thought this is what he
needed to do to finally make it off, was to start with someone
else. But we both know that's a recipe
for disaster because if you're not over the person, you
shouldn't start with someone else.
So you know, amicably. Thank you so much.
(53:15):
It was great meeting you, getting to know you.
I wish you the best. At least by your dinner.
He did. Did you get dessert?
No. No.
No dessert. Did he take you bowling?
No. So you even get any fingers in
the holes. None.
You're so bad. Am I though?
Am I? I want to thank you for sharing
(53:36):
your story about speed dating. Do you have any other speed date
sessions set up? Is it going to happen again
anytime? Soon I'm waiting for you to
create this new environment thatI speak of.
I don't think that would be veryhard, no.
All you would really have to do is have a facility to have it at
like a Community Center, you know?
Or no. No.
(53:56):
A house? I don't know.
Well, no, because you don't wantto bring strangers.
No, definitely not. So like a Community Center set
up tables. It can even be.
I think you need music. Oh definitely.
I think it's everything. Music I think you need to have
little snackies on the table like you said, just nothing.
I mean, not like a full course meal just to bring down the tone
(54:19):
and let people feel comfortable and have conversations.
So what I would do is, so basically, here's what it is
speed dating. You look online, see where the
speed dating is around you, thenyou go there.
You do have to go on the computer and sign up or register
or do you just show up? No, no, no, you do have to pre
(54:40):
register so they know how many people are coming and she was
very good about making sure there was a balance with males
and females. Sounds good, so you show up $25.
Yes. You get a free drink out of it
and I understand that sometimes it could be different.
Sometimes it be $30.00 with two free drinks or 0 drinks.
(55:00):
But you do your speed dating andyou do prepare questions,
correct? Yes you can, but they actually
this event provided questions ifyou wanted to use them.
That is really lovely, I love it.
Would you say all around this was a great experience?
Yeah, I think it was awesome. It was awesome that I made
(55:22):
myself do it. Yeah, I I think it was great.
Now, how would you rank this with speed dating versus dating
websites? I don't know.
So I know people that successfully are with their
soulmate and they have a wonderful relationship and they
(55:42):
met them online. In this day and age, I don't
really know. It's so awkward.
It's like a fish out of water. Marco.
Polo. Speed dating, what a great thing
to do you know if we're going toserve food there though, nothing
with poppy seeds my God, for obvious reasons, poppy seeds and
the teeth. Horrible big turn off for
(56:04):
dating, but totally support the speed dating.
Thank you Charlene for joining us and putting yourself out
there to share with us your veryintimate details of your life.
We love you and I know you'll befamous off of this episode.
I think you're going to help a lot of the single people out
there, men and women. I would like for everyone to
(56:25):
meet. Speed dating's very own Mr. 88
she himself PD Good luck Charlene and hang on enjoy the
ride. Hi.
Hi. I'm Charlene.
Hi. Is it Charlene?
Charlene. Hi, I'm Petey.
Hi, Petey. Nice to meet you, Charlene.
Very nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
I don't know what's going on. What?
(56:45):
Where is what time is it 730? What's going on?
What was your name again? I don't know what's going on.
I don't know where. Are you OK, Petey?
Would you like some water? Do you have any balloons on you?
Can you get a balloon? Can we get a balloon?
I kind of forgot where I was fora moment there, Charlene.
What do you like to do for fun? Well, I like to do puzzles, but
I like to do puzzles that don't have all the pieces.
(57:07):
I figure it out. I have a pretty good
imagination. You know, when I was growing up,
all my friends went to college and I was convinced that balloon
animal making was my destiny. Oh, are you kidding me?
I love balloon animals. Would you like a balloon animal?
I haven't learned how to make them yet, but you seem like the
perfect person for me to make a balloon animal for.
(57:27):
Do you have any balloons on you?Can you get a balloon?
Can we get a balloon? I'd like to make a balloon
animal for you. Is that possible?
I don't think it's going to be possible right now PD, but I
like the idea that you're so creative.
Have you ever been in a hot air balloon?
I have been in a hot air balloon.
It was amazing. I haven't either, but we should
do that. We should totally do that.
We should definitely go on a hotair balloon.
(57:47):
I have PD, I've said so not today.
We could make balloon animals ina hot air balloon.
That's incredible. I've never been in a hot air
balloon, wouldn't even know where to go.
But we should do that. We should definitely do that.
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. When can we do that?
What kind of car do you we have?I don't have a car.
I rode in a car once. I'd love to ride in your car.
What kind of car do you have? Do you live at home or with your
(58:08):
mother, Petey? Do you open the window and stick
your head out the window when wedrive down the highway?
Yeah, my dogs do that too. Do you have cable television?
Because it's very important thatI watch my programs.
Was it Charlene? Yes.
I forgot where I was for a moment there, Charlene.
You sound tired, Petey. Are you OK?
Do you like Dungeness crab? We should definitely do dungeous
(58:30):
crab. I've never had Dungeness crab
before. I've heard it's really good.
Charlene, we should do that. I haven't.
What are you doing after this? We should definitely go
somewhere. Have you been to the movies
before? Mom took me to the movies once.
I haven't been since. But we should definitely go see
a movie. I think she sounds great.
We can make. Balloon animals while we're at
the movie theater. That sounds like a great time,
although I don't like popcorn. Do you like popcorn?
I'm a big fan of popcorn. We can get a hot dog.
(58:50):
Oh my God, have you ever been toMilwaukee?
They have the best hot dogs you've ever had in life.
I've never been, but I've heard.I don't know, I.
Saw a movie once but I'm not sure we should go see a movie.
We should do that. We.
Should go to Hollywood. We should be in the movies.
That sounds like a great time. I've never been to Los Angeles.
I heard California's really nice.
I spent a lot of time in Milwaukee.
I don't know what that is because I'm not allowed to drink
alcohol. The doctor said it could affect
(59:12):
my personality. And that, ladies and gentlemen,
is how you turn a simple hello into a restraining order.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Welcome back to Cutting Loose
Chronicles podcast. I am your host Jess, and today's
show is going to be good becausetoday we are going to dive into
the wild world of speed dating. This is 2025, folks, and
apparently all it takes is 7 minutes to decide if you found
(00:34):
your soulmate or your next restraining order.
Today, live in the Cut News Chronicles podcast studio, we
have the beautiful, the lovely, the delicious, the elegant.
Miss Charlene Williams. Hey, Jess.
Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me.
You're welcome and it's my pleasure.
(00:54):
I have had the honor of knowing Miss Charlene for over 20 years
and I only get to see her maybe once every month.
Our time together is always so special to me because she keeps
me in stitches. Oh, but you do the same.
Oh, well, you know, I need you to just, I want you to share
(01:15):
with my listeners the joy that you give me and how we're going
to do it is Charlene has been saving herself for the right
man. She is a virgin, everyone.
After three. Children and she is living in a
material world and she is a Material Girl.
True, not. Just kidding.
(01:38):
I got, I got a little carried away, you know, Madonna,
Material World, like a virgin. I mean, it was a great era, 80s,
how do you go wrong? I agree and that is a whole
nother. Episode.
Oh yeah, Oh yeah. I would love to revisit, but
Charlene has decided after all these years.
And how many years has it been? I have been single, not dating
(01:59):
for over 20 years. 20 That's 22.0 Yikes Yikes.
I bet you went through a lot of batteries and I hope there are
double D's. Do they make double D batteries?
This I do not know. D's will suffice.
(02:19):
We don't need AAA's. Well, anyway, so lately Charlene
has been, has been telling me asshe comes in about her going to
speed dating. And when she told me about speed
dating, I didn't let her tell meanything because I knew that
that would be a good conversation to talk about.
Because let's face it, girls andguys, when you live in a small
(02:42):
town, there's and you get to a certain age group, there's Slim
Pickens. Wouldn't you agree?
Absolutely. They're either married or
they're, they're already committed or they are scary and
they're, they're crazy deranged and it's really hard to find the
right the right fit. The daily mug shots, I mean.
Not a good look. Some of them are handsome.
(03:03):
Let me ever do you do you check the local?
No, but it does pop up on your Facebook feed.
It does. It does sometimes.
I mean, sometimes they're people, you know?
That's interesting because I that is that is actually
entertaining when as when I'm doing hair and stuff, some of my
clients, they like to look at the mug shots and they look and
see the rest reports for who would just got arrested.
(03:25):
And I think I'm like, I look to see if there's people I know and
a lot of times I know. I don't search for them so I'm
not trying to find, but sometimes it just populates.
So yes, speed dating at my age or any age is probably a
challenge. Dating in itself is a challenge.
So before we get into the speed dating, tell us a little bit
about yourself. So I recently entered the 60th
(03:49):
chapter of my book. Yeah, I turned 60.
I turned 60. When you don't look it.
Well, God bless you. So at that point, I've been
single again for many, many, many years and my children are
all grown. They now have their own
children. I many years.
That was a reason why I didn't settle down into a relationship.
(04:12):
Very selfless, have you? Not that I didn't date a time or
two or three, but didn't dedicate to go into a
relationship. And so for my 60th birthday, I
love live music and one of my bucket list items was to go to
Nashville. So my daughter Alexis said well
let's plan a trip. And so we went as a group of
(04:35):
friends and we went to Nashvilleand had a great time.
And I came home and on again theFacebook feed pops up this ad
for a speed dating event locally.
The age group was 40 to 60. And I said, I'm not surprised.
Dear God, I'm like the last age.If I don't do it this time, I'm
(04:59):
going to be in the group that's searching their next certified
nursing assistant or I'm going to be somebody's caretaker.
And I didn't want that. So I, I quickly talked to my
daughter and said, what do you think?
She goes sign up. So I did good, good advice.
Yeah. And she encouraged me and she
(05:19):
said, Mom, I want you to find somebody that's your person or
at least go out on some dates, have some adult.
Conversations. I agree.
I've been telling you that for years.
You have you, absolutely. Charlene would come in and I'd
say so. You talking to anybody?
Nope, I said nobody at all. Nope.
I said OK, don't you have needs?And she never answers.
So I guess we all know what we have to do if we have needs.
(05:42):
But that's very selfless. Selfless of you to choose to not
bring. Yeah.
You know, or, but it's not terrible if anyone does have,
you can still have children, youknow, and raise them and still
have a relationship. Doesn't make you a selfish
person. But you know, there's times when
you put those people before yourchildren and you know, and, and
(06:05):
then you don't make your kids number one, right?
And that can happen to people. Absolutely.
So you learned about speed dating locally.
Where are you from? Where do you live?
Tell everyone. So I live in Dunnellon now.
Dunnellon's an interesting area.It's definitely not a
metropolis. Dunnellon, FL everyone.
And so you can live in the city limits and there's 1600 people.
(06:27):
You can live in the Levy County part of Dunnellon, you can live
in the Marion County Dunnellon, or you can live in the Citrus
County. Probably in totality, maybe
you're looking at 60,000 people,which that sounds like a lot of
people. We just had a big boom, by the
way, that was doubled in this past couple of years.
Oh, so now I believe. They call that a tri-county
area. I believe so.
(06:48):
I have always been possibly a workaholic where I dedicate
Monday through Friday to whomever I'm working for.
I'm at 100%. So when you get home, there's no
time to kind of think about, oh,I think I want to go on a date
or try to throw myself out there.
So I have remained single for a long, long time.
(07:09):
And now I just said, you know what, I think it's OK.
I think it's time. I'd like to see if I can find
that someone special, kind of like my friend Jess and her
Someone special. Yeah, you're right and I have
found someone special. Now the speed dating is out of
Williston, FL. It's not, it's, it's really
scary to take that plunge. You don't know what you're
getting into. And so I, I applaud you for
(07:33):
having the courage to do it. So you see that in Williston,
FL, You see it's speed dating. What did you do?
Do you have to make an appointment?
Well, you do have to sign up. You had to pay.
Online. I think you did it via text and
Venmo or whatever. Now, do you see it online?
Like like, how can you find thatthere's speed dating going on in
(07:53):
your area? So it popped up, populated on
Facebook as an event for this place called Homestead in
Williston. And I'm familiar with the venue.
So I thought, OK, it's right up the road, it's not far, and it
was early enough. Was it like at 11:00?
What time was it? I think we had to be there by
(08:15):
6:00, so you had to register andat some point they cut off
because they only allow so many people.
How many people they so I when I, when I watch it some videos,
it's usually at least they say on there don't be discouraged as
only four people show up. Don't cancel because only four
people are signed up. It's always something good comes
(08:36):
out of it. So, but usually they typically
like about 8 males, 8 females. We don't use pronouns here,
everyone, so we do males and females.
Abso freaking lutely. And so there was about.
Ten. I would say 10 and 10 possibly.
Oh, that's a that's a big doubt.OK, good, good.
OK. And with your admission, you got
(08:57):
a free drink ticket. Alcohol.
Yes. So I had a glass of wine OK,
which helped. Did they do you have to pay for
that or does it do you think you?
I think the 25 allows you to attend the event and you also
get that ticket for. Is $25 a person?
Yes. I would like you to know that
Cut Moose Chronicles podcast would like to fund your next
(09:20):
speed state. I have just stutter it up would
like to fund your next speed date.
Wow are you serious? But can I bring a live camera
crew? It would make for great TV.
Wouldn't it? It surely would.
So $25 a person, you get a free drink?
(09:41):
Yes, just one free drink. Yes, you have to buy your
others. OK.
Yes, All right. Would you call this affordable?
This whole? Yeah.
I mean if you think $25 you can go anywhere to eat and you don't
leave usually less than $25.00. So investing in yourself for $25
I felt was. Do you get snacks?
No, you. Don't want food in your teeth
(10:02):
anyway. You don't, I mean.
You probably don't want to watchother people eat.
God forbid there's poppy seeds in something and you smile real
big. That would be my biggest
nightmare, yes. What did you decide to wear and
how did you decide what? You wanted to wear Wow, so that
was a whole episode in itself. That would be something for me
too. So again, my daughter encouraged
(10:23):
me and so she would see me throughout the week or two weeks
prior to the event and I wear something.
She's like, Oh my gosh, that looks so cute.
You should wear that for your speed dating.
Well, one of them was a dress that I had worn to church on a
Sunday and I was like, oh, I don't really know what the.
Dress more than 50 buttons. Ditch it.
So no, it was a pullover. It was.
(10:43):
It was very nice. If it goes higher than your
chin, ditch it. So you're looking for a man, not
your next evangelist. Hey, I am not like Dana Carvey,
the church lady. Oh my God, I wish you were.
No, no. So that is a whole nother show.
(11:04):
So I ended up, I think I ended up wearing jeans and a shirt and
a jacket and it was just more ofa casual event, which was nice
because then she sent out something saying the dress is
casual so. Did you show any skin?
I had my hands exposed. I think I had open toed shoes
(11:24):
on. OK, so cut loose Chronicles
podcast would like to not only fund your next speed date but
bring a nice live camera crew and I would like to dress you.
Oh my. Well.
The little black book will be full, I promise you.
No, no, I'm picturing you and you look fabulous, so.
(11:46):
Yeah, it made, it was good because it made me feel
comfortable. Did you wear hoop earrings?
I wore dangles. No hoops?
Good. No hoops.
You know what they say about hoops?
No, the bigger bit. The bigger the hoop, the bigger
the the. Bigger the hoop, the bigger the
hoe. I.
Heard that, you know, I just learned that that's this old I.
(12:08):
Actually just heard that recently from my friend at work.
So you walked in. I walked in.
I want to know, paint the scene.What did it look like?
How were you feeling? What energy was in the room?
OK, so basically this event venue is on your way to
Gainesville and it's a glorified, beautiful pole born
(12:33):
pole barn. It's got a dance floor, OK.
It's got. It's got a bar that's got wine
based drinks that sounds bad. And then on the outskirts of the
bar you've got different there'san axe throwing place, there's a
little mini golf putting range in front of you, there's some
(12:54):
little boutiques pop up and thenfood vendors.
It is a very nice place. It's called what?
It's called the Homestead. Oh yeah, you know, I was born in
Homestead, FL Off, off. That doesn't matter.
The Homestead. That's cute.
So definitely low key, it was nice because you walk in and
you're thinking, OK, not everybody in the room knows
(13:17):
you're walking in for what you're walking.
In Were you greeted? Was there a host?
No, there's no host. So how did you know what to do?
Because the lady who coordinatedit gave you great directions on
when you arrive. This is where you go.
You'll meet me, you'll sign in. I'll give you your ticket.
They also gave you your famous. Not not so famous.
(13:38):
Hello. My name is Just stick on Your
Chest, Yes. Yeah.
And then you got your drink ticket and you got to go to the
bar. So then of course, now you're
standing in. Do you see?
Gentlemen callers there, do you see them there?
Right, so now you're seeing those that have the Hello, my
name is. And then your other competition
for the females. Absolutely.
(13:58):
And then you're looking around going darn, why doesn't that
person have hello, my name is. And in walks his wife.
So you know, that's it's, it's an open venue.
It's not just hosting this event.
So the actual speed dating is done behind this in its own
private tent area. OK, so you walk in and you
(14:21):
already have instructions. The reason why I'm being so and
I detailed is because I've been talking about this for the past
couple of weeks and there's a lot of people who responded to
the speed dating that are singleand looking and they were they
were nervous about it. They didn't have the guts to do
it. So I told them about this
episode and they want me to sendthis episode to them and they
(14:41):
want to hear it. So I think this could be really
good for the Homestead area and it's Williston, FL listeners and
anybody who's local or anybody who's coming into Florida in
our, in our, we're in North Central Florida and you want to
do something like this. It's in Williston, FL, just shy
of Gainesville. So come on and check it out.
(15:01):
If you're single. So you, you walk in, you already
told what to do. You can see your competition.
You said it's 40 through 60. Yes, that was the age group I
went. I think she hosts other age
groups at different times. OK.
So 40 to 60, so you could be in there you being you're 50.
(15:21):
I'm 60. That's right.
You're 60, but you're comp, you're competing with women who
are 40, is that correct? Correct.
Not that there is. Sometimes you can't even tell
people are 40 or 60 because 60 is a new 30, you know, So it
doesn't matter. But I just want to paint the
picture. And then you see the men.
Now, how many would you say were60 for the men?
(15:48):
For the men. I think it's a pretty steep age
group bracket I think. I thought so too.
I think it should be 20 to 30 and then I think it should be 30
to 40 and then 40 to 50 and then60 to 70.
Oh, no, no. Well, there's plenty of a lot of
seniors that wives or husbands have passed.
(16:10):
They're good people and they don't want someone as young as
you, right? Or or 50 or 40.
And I really, I think there's a huge market.
We live in a retirement community, right?
You know, so I do think that in fact, I'm actually interested in
hosting a speed dating. I think you would be fantastic.
I would love to, yes, because preparing for this episode, I
(16:31):
did a lot of research and I watched a lot of videos and I
thought I could do this, absolutely.
And it brings joy, absolutely. And I can make it fun.
I am going to make it fun. I really want to do this.
I want to put on a speed dating.In my area, people turn to speed
dating because they're tired of dating apps where everyone's
(16:52):
profile says there are fluent and sarcasm and love long walks
on the beach, blah blah blah. Or maybe they tried online
dating and realized that entrepreneur really means entre
manure. I think dating apps are OK, but
speed dating, that gives you a little something extra, a little
something to look forward to, and then it's face to face.
(17:12):
You can sit down and you can talk to anybody you want to talk
to. I don't think speed dating is
good. I don't think it's bad because I
think it's freaking great. I'm glad they offer it in our
area, and I think more people should do it.
The beauty of speed dating is that you can meet every flavor
of human disaster in one convenient evening and the
person who somehow makes eye contact feel like a hostage
situation. Speed dating is like a dating
(17:34):
buffet. You get to sample every little
flavor. On that note, I would like to
introduce to you someone Charlene met while she was out
on her speed date. Folks, this guy is something.
Listen to this. I would like to introduce to you
Franklin Shorshot. Hi, Charlene, I'm Franklin
(17:57):
Shorshot. Hi Franklin Shorshot, tell me
something about yourself. Sure, sure.
What would you like to know? I'm Franklin Shorshot.
I have cats. Lots of cats.
Did you know that I run a cat rescue out of my mom's one
bedroom apartment in the downtown area?
I'm allergic to cats. The name's Franklin Shorshot.
(18:18):
It's very interesting name. What is that?
Scandinavian. I was found in a bag of kittens.
Oh well, I'm, I'm so sorry, a bag of kittens.
What is your culture? I'm not sure.
My Papa. I don't know who my Papa is.
Oh well, I'm I'm so sorry. Listen, I brought cats with me.
I'm running a special. I'll give you 1 and you get a
(18:41):
second one for free. That's the shore shot guarantee
because I'm Franklin shore shot.It, you know, I have to say, for
me, it was scary at first, but Ichallenged myself and I said I'm
going to do this for me. I'm going to overcome my fear
(19:01):
because worst case scenario, I walk out and I've met 10
different people, 10 different personalities.
Some may have had multiple personalities, but it got me out
there. I did something for me by
myself, without anyone. And that's why I'm applauding
you. I know you and I know that's not
(19:23):
easy. And you, I know you don't think
I tell you I'm shy all the time and you don't believe me, but I
am. In my own way.
I would have a hard time. It would be hard on me.
I don't think it's hard on anybody to put yourself out
there like you are. And, and I'm glad you bring that
up because I don't consider myself shy at all.
I'm very outgoing. I have a very outgoing
(19:43):
personality. I am the kind of person that if
we're both in the grocery store and I will strike up a
conversation. So that part wasn't scary for
me. It was the fact, I guess back to
not wanting to feel like I was in competition because I believe
that people come into your life for a reason, a season or a
(20:03):
lifetime. I do too.
So I just felt like this was my way of saying, you know what,
it's OK, it's your time. If you end up with someone
liking you, great. If you don't, it's OK because
you like yourself. You're a good person.
That's great. Let's go, right for let's dig
right into it. Let's go.
So you're there, all the people are there, and it's time to
start the speed date. It is.
(20:25):
It has a bell. OK, so go from there.
Tell us what happens. OK, so they have the room set up
in this white tent and it's a huge shape with tables.
So the women were on the outsideand the men were on the inside.
So you started with someone in front of you.
Now I had prepared my own questions because I thought I
should have my own questions. Now you are supposed to do that,
(20:47):
right? Well, they provided you with
questions and so in my first experience with this, I didn't
get to use any of my questions because it goes by rather
quickly. Do you have to follow suit?
Do you have to do what they say to do?
You don't I think. I think it was to help those
that wouldn't know what to do you quickly or I quickly started
(21:09):
to believe that this was not their first rodeo for some of
them because they actually had almost memorized the whole list
of questions that we just all got that night.
So you would talk to somebody and find out like, oh, no, this
is not the first time. I do this all the time.
Oh, OK. And then some of them you didn't
(21:30):
even get a chance to ask a question.
And you've been with those people where it starts out with.
Hi, my name is Timothy. Oh, Timothy, can I call you Tim?
And then some of his other personalities came out and
quickly shut me down to say absolutely not.
Oh my gosh, so that that explains why he's been to so
many speed dates and not found amatch.
(21:51):
So how many? How long do you get at each?
I was like like tables you go to1 table.
You no it's. It's basically pop up tables
that are in the in a goose shape.
So I'm on the outside, the men are on the inside.
I don't even know that it was 7 minutes because it seemed
quicker than that. And then you start having a
dialect back and forth, hopefully.
(22:13):
And then the bell rings and you've got your little sheet in
front of you and you have to check yes or no and write their
name down. And you had an opportunity to
write notes. But what happens is that person
gets up and literally now sits right here next to you.
OK, so it's not far away. So the other challenge too was I
could hear what they said to theperson before me.
(22:34):
I see that's not I would do it all different.
Yes it would be like voting booths privacy.
I'd have candles lit, romantic saxophone playing like with the
80s sax music, and, you know, I would be encouraging matches.
OK, Timothy. So you sit down with Timothy.
You ask him, Hi, Timothy. I'm so and so I'm, I'm Charlene.
(22:56):
Do you ever you, you what are some of the questions you have
to ask? What do they give you?
What kind of questions? Oh, one of them.
First question the guy asked waswhat radio station is on your is
in your car? I said, well, I listen to
Pandora. You know, that's important.
(23:17):
Music is very. Yeah, music tells a lot about.
Absolutely. So then they said, oh, OK, well,
what do you listen to? Well, I have an eclectic choice
of music that I like. It all depends what mood I'm in
and how long I'm driving and where I'm going.
And so it could be anything fromFleetwood Mac to Maroon 5.
It could be the Eagles, it couldbe, it could be some hip hop.
(23:41):
It definitely is going to be country, but it's not all
country. It's not all hip hop, it's not
all so I. Like a plethora.
Of different kinds of music. Did he?
Was he pleased with the response?
No. Oh.
He wanted only hip hop, hippity hippity, hip, hip hop and don't
stop bopping till the Bang Bang music.
(24:02):
Oh hell no. How old was he?
I don't think we discussed that right away.
He was a quick. He only landed hip hop to the
get stopped to the bitty bitty bop.
Yeah, to the Bang Bang boogie. What a goo goo goofy guy.
He needs like, OK, so that's so.There was no.
(24:23):
No, that was not. That wasn't Tim.
No. Who was that guy?
I. Don't even remember his name.
OK, because he wasn't a check the box.
Yes. No.
OK, tell me about Tim. OK, because you can't, you can't
call him Tim. You can't.
Why? Well, apparently Timothy has a
trigger with the word Tim that goes back to his childhood when
(24:46):
his mom was divorced and marriedher new husband, who was a drill
Sergeant and shipped Timothy offto boarding school.
Not because he was bad, but because he didn't want him
around. And then when he would see
Timothy, he would berate him andcall him names that are women's
parts. Well, not really, but it's a
derogatory term of a woman's part.
(25:09):
And. Start therapy or speed dating.
That's what it felt like. I was very what kind?
Of question was asked for him tohave that response.
If I triggered him by saying oh,hi, nice to meet you, Timothy,
Do you go by Timothy or Tim? Oh.
God. Now, prior to Timothy sitting
down with Charlene, he bragged to the woman in front of me
(25:29):
about how he lived on a sailboatand had all this money.
And so he was in a totally different lane with that one.
And that's fine. He was very boastful, very
materialistic. I could hear all that happening
because my poor guy, the minute I said I didn't listen to hip
hop fully, he was disengaged andI felt bad for him.
But I was hoping for the bell toring and then enters Timothy and
(25:53):
I didn't. Tell him you like the song Me So
Horny by Two live Crew. Did not.
I told him that that is one of your favorite songs.
And. I would have never told him I
love that song. So he got up and he left and I
got Timothy and it was just quite shocking.
(26:14):
You know, it's so OK, So that's that guy.
Yeah. Tell me about your next one.
Oh, there were so many differentpersonalities and so oh, I do
have to give a plug for something else.
For those of you looking for a great show, I encourage you to
watch Netflix show Love on the Spectrum, especially those who
are looking to do speed dating because they actually coach
(26:38):
these adults that have autism that are on all different venues
or I don't know what the correctword is, but they were on all
different sides of the spectrum.Some live on their own, some
still live at home, some have full time jobs.
It's a really cool show and the thing that I learned is they're
(26:59):
very blunt and they're very honest and they just say what
they think. I've heard about this and and
noted and I do need to it's it'sa series so.
There's there's only three episodes or I'm sorry, three
seasons. And ironically, it's a
documentary. So none of them are paid to do
this. And what I also found, if you
(27:21):
remember back to the movie Pretty Woman, not Pretty Woman,
sorry, my best friend's wedding where every guy she was with, if
he liked eggs Benedict, then allof a sudden that was her
favorite breakfast. She was a chameleon, right?
Yeah, and I definitely don't want to be a chameleon.
(27:43):
I don't want, I want to be able at this stage of my life to say
I don't like eggs Benedict, but knock your socks off if you
would like some cool. So the love on the spectrum kind
of prepared me to be able to sayit's OK to say I don't like
that. Did you start Love on the
Spectrum before? Speeding.
I didn't finish the series, but it encouraged me to say, you
(28:05):
know what? Go Oh, poor Charlene.
Poor Charlene. You know, so far there's hope.
There's hope, she's thinking. OK, that was PD Surely the next
guy will be normal, right? Maybe someone who doesn't
collect belly button lint or thinks deodorant is optional.
(28:28):
She's moving to the next table, putting on her best.
She sits down across from a guy who introduces himself as John
B, and Charlene thinks John B. That sounds normal.
Maybe this is it. Maybe this is it.
Maybe my luck is turning around.Let's see, guys, let's see.
Listen to this. Hello.
(28:49):
Hi there. Hello.
My name is Charlene. Tell me about yourself.
I don't tell anything about myself.
Oh, OK. I'm sorry.
And you are looking at me. In my country, women do not look
me in the eyes. The name is John B.
Oh my, that's a problem, becauseI'm all about the eyes.
What country are you from? John BI.
(29:11):
Cannot be specific, but it ends in Stan.
Oh, OK. How long have you been in
America? Six months.
What do you do for a living? I I'm feeling rather
uncomfortable talking to a womanwho's looking me in the eyes.
John B don't look woman in the eye.
They came to this country to drive a taxi and how everything
(29:32):
Uber don't have smartphone, justflip.
John B drives a taxi. OK, what city you drive in?
What? Where do you live in America?
This make me uncomfortable. I am here.
I'm here at this Bob Evans because I was told the coffee is
good and you are just sitting here with me.
I don't understand what's going on.
John B Confused. Oh, John B, I'm so sorry.
(29:54):
I don't want to make you feel UNcomfortable.
We just wanted. I come into this restaurant, I
sit down and all of a sudden allof these women are sitting at
table with me and looking me in the eye.
And Zombie's country. That's just not allowed do.
You have children. Zombie has so many children.
Don't know. Zombie does not know how many
(30:14):
children. Zombie has been married 7 times
at the same time. That's Zombie's country.
Zombie's rules now be gone. You know, I had that same kind
of reaction, but it was to the show.
Nip tuck. Oh yeah, OK.
I got my boobs done after that. Oh, maybe I need to watch that
next. You know what I want to specify
(30:35):
breast reduction. Oh, I'm not a I'm not a hoochie.
Oh, so that is very good advice.So love on the spectrum.
I have heard that from several people and that's that's really
good. So do you suggest taking notes?
Can you take notes? Do you bring a notebook?
No, they provide you with this sheet of paper, but you don't
(30:58):
have enough time to take notes. And what's interesting, Can you
imagine that you are on a speed date and now Mr. Hip Hop?
Early on I realized like there is no chemistry, there is no
physical attraction, there's no mental attraction.
I already know this guy's a no, but being a lady and being kind
hearted, I didn't want to check no right in front of them.
(31:20):
So you have to wait, and then when he gets up, you quickly
check now and go on to the next one.
Now you could write notes. If I said, say, I liked hip hop,
yes, I liked him because we share the same kind of music.
Or he's got beautiful blue eyes.Or did he have beautiful?
Blue eyes no. Do you did anyone, any other
ladies kind of bond with you or anybody that was there any men
(31:44):
and say I've been here before, that guy's crazy.
Ironically, not that, but I walked in and I was at the bar
to grab my Moscato and as I turned around, someone I knew
was there, a female. I like her, she's a great
person. And so we each greeted each
(32:06):
other, gave a big hug, and I said to her in her ear, Oh my
gosh, are you here for the same reason I am?
And she says I am. And I said, well I'm so happy.
So that was nice and that now wesat on opposite sides.
So then what was interesting is you would get breaks because
three of the guys didn't show upon time.
(32:28):
One forgot, one got cold feet, and I don't know what the other
one was. They eventually show up, but
they're late. So that kind of set off the
whole dynamics of the evening. So some of us took breaks
waiting. And so when you first started,
how many females were there? All ten were there.
Women were all there. The three men?
(32:49):
Yeah. Just three men.
Those men could have had a full sausage party if they wanted to.
Three men were late to the party.
OK, so then there was how many men when you first got there?
7. OK, that's OK.
But those three men, did they jump right in?
One of them did. I don't like the organization of
your speed date session. I'm not Downing.
(33:11):
I guess I kind of sound like I'mPooh poohing on the one at
Wilson. I am really interested in
putting on speed dating but I would have way more organization
privacy. Well, I think they do a great
job, but I like where you're going where I would have liked
it a little differently. You can't get to know somebody
(33:31):
if you have other people listening.
Yeah, that was kind of distracting for me because, like
I said, in the Timothy world, I got two different versions of
the same person. I'm glad I saw the version I
did, because I'm not sure if thegirl to my right checked.
Yes, because he dazzled her withhis money and his portfolio and
all of those things. Hopefully she paid attention
(33:52):
when I saw the poltergeist that came out, but who knows.
It's like being in school again and you have an essay and then
whenever you're done, you just take it up to the desk and you
can just leave the classroom. And the last person there who's
got the ADHD or the ADD and theyhave a hard time taking tests.
And then they see all the, all they can do is see all these
people done and they're walking up to the desk.
(34:14):
And then you just, you start Christmas training your tests
and you flunk. Or you get a lot of deaths or a
lot of dates. Or you need a 54 plan or a five
O 4 plan. I want to.
I'm going to have five O 4 plansat speed dating at mine when I
organize mine. I think I mean I'm interested.
I would sign up for yours. I know because I'm going to need
(34:35):
you, because I really think thatyou're going to help me.
I think you're going to help me do this.
I have plans for us. Oh.
OK, so go in back. So the the the clingers that the
the losers. But wait, I got one more.
I got to tell you. The one guy though, I'm going to
give him a get out of jail free card.
The one who got cold feet. Yeah, that was fine.
(34:56):
I will talk about him in a moment, but I have to tell you
about the one that was very interesting.
I want to hear about all of them.
Well, OK, the one guy, he sat down, he was my last, and it
started something like this. Hi, I'm Charlene.
What's your name? My name is Ben.
My name is Ben Benjamin. Ben.
Ben. Ben.
Ben, Ben. And The Jets.
(35:19):
I'm from New York City, NYC, BigApple, Studio 54.
I mean, he was a whole entertainment package in just
one box. You just so, he said.
Oh my. God, I didn't even get to ask
anything. It was just sit back, relax and
enjoy the show. I wonder.
What he's like in bed. I'm not sure.
I'm not sure that's. Like a Jack rabbit.
(35:40):
Yeah, that would be all over theplace.
So you didn't find out? No, no, he was a no.
So he sat down at Studio 54, BenBenny in the church, just so.
Then he proceeded to say different things that were just
way, just way off course. Aliens.
(36:02):
Extraterrestrial. Activities He was abducted.
Yes. I need his number.
I need an as. I've been wanting someone who's
been abducted by aliens on my show for real.
I'm sorry I can't help you with that.
Why is it all confidential? Yeah.
Is it really? Do you have to sign a paper?
Do you have to sign a paper? You do have to sign a paper and
(36:22):
so the next day or two after this event, they contact you and
either say you passed or you failed.
No, they say you actually match with one person, two people,
whatever. OK.
Would you would? You OK before we get to that,
that doesn't fall into my my interview.
I'm so sorry, I'm out of sorts. So they give you paper for
(36:45):
taking notes. You can take notes.
When do you get to ask the questions that you want to know?
I unfortunately didn't get to ask my one question.
Which which was I want to know what is your top three questions
that you want to know? Well, it was more and listen,
not single men it. Was an ice breaker question of
like tell me, do you live at home with your wife or your
(37:07):
mother? Good one.
Good. Necessary.
Yes, because guess what? It could be either or both.
Did you get any of that? I never even.
Bothered to ask that question. OK, no, OK #2.
I think music is important. What's your idea of a good time?
(37:28):
Perfect. What kind of music do you listen
to when you're happy, When you're sad?
When you're cleaning the house. I want to know that too.
Yes. Yes, you can.
I you know what? I damn it, I wish I was a single
man. Oh, Jess, don't flatter me.
Is that the next episode? OK, so you have these questions.
(37:53):
You didn't get to ask these questions, but did anybody offer
any of the answers to your questions just because they sat
down and told you? And I'm not talking about but
but, but Betty and the Jet Guy Never.
Or the Crocodile Rock. Ever forget them?
No, a lot of so a lot of the time that you've got and if it
(38:14):
was 7 minutes again, I apologize.
I really don't know what the time frame was, but you almost
didn't get enough time to reallyget to talk back and forth is
what I felt. I felt I get the concept of
speed dating, but I think more of like I'd like 15 minutes of a
conversation, like do an icebreaker and have a
(38:35):
conversation. So I learned a lot about where
people worked, what they did fora living, if they needed some
therapy, whether it. Was sounds like they need some
therapy. Right.
So it wasn't, it wasn't a lot ofdialogue like you could if you
were just out somewhere and struck up a conversation with
(38:57):
someone. And that's really more of what I
guess I'm looking for. It's just conversations with
people to find out what you'd it's OK to have differences.
I don't want someone who wants everything I do or likes
everything I do. I want new experiences and I
want them to. If they say they don't like
country music, maybe let them listen to something I do like.
(39:19):
Or if they say they like, I don't know, Insane Clown Posse,
Not saying I'm going to like them but maybe I'll listen to
them and I'll find a song or twothat sounds great.
So it's more of a I'm not looking for someone to fit in a
box. But you're willing also to to
broaden your horizons. You're OK to compromise and meet
in the middle. Well, that's a successful
(39:39):
relationship, by the way. That is the recipe for a
successful relationship. Compromise, communication, then
love. Yes, I want a friend I want I
don't want just an instant chemistry.
Everything goes off and that sounds great.
Those things are wonderful and Ithink it's important to have
(40:00):
passion and love and. And be able to understand each
other physically and emotionally.
Do you think you can go without sex?
So you got the you got this guy,you meet him and everything's
great, but he can't perform. Are you, are you the kind of
person that can adapt to that? Is that is that a deal breaker
(40:21):
for you? And this is not just you in but
general, This is for a lot of people, because this comes up a
lot in relationships and some people say, oh, I, I can't do
that. I have to have sex.
Do you have to have sex? Obviously not, because it's been
a long time. I would probably need the
instructional manual. Not really, but it's been a long
(40:44):
time. So do I base something based on
sex? Absolutely not.
Would I want a relationship, an adult relationship that was also
very passionate? Absolutely.
Passion to me could be making out.
Yeah. I think that's so underrated.
(41:04):
Making out is underrated. I like baking out too.
I think a a nice kiss, a kiss onthe forehead.
Absolutely a slow dance in the kitchen.
Fingers in the areas that you need tongues.
Tongues get back to professional, gentle kisses,
holding hands, holding each other at night, you know, and,
(41:27):
and really, there's things called toys.
Well, I mean, I think when you have that basis, honestly, then
the sex could become absolutely wonderful and exciting and all
of those things. Just because I have three
children doesn't mean I had the greatest sex life.
I don't think I knew what sex was until way past that because
(41:52):
back in my day, not only did they not teach you about skin
care, but as a woman you really were not supposed to enjoy.
That remember Debbie that workedat my shop.
Debbie, I'm not going to say last name, but she used to tell
me that her grandma used to tellher.
She was given her advice. Now, Debbie, you're going to get
(42:12):
married one day and you're goingto have your things that you're
supposed to do for your husband,right?
So if he gets in the mood, you just lay there and grin and bear
it. Yes.
And she just thought that was the funniest thing ever.
Grin and Barrett, that's how it was back then.
But really, when you're young, you don't have the
self-confidence that you have. And this is from men, women and
(42:35):
men. So you don't know your body or
you're getting to learn your body, or you might be insecure
with your body. You don't want, you're not ready
to do face down your booty in the air, you know?
But it comes with age, it comes with experience, and
self-confidence is something that's very hard to have, very
hard to get a hold of. Not everybody gets it.
(42:58):
So if you get to have the chanceto have self-confidence, that's
a wonderful thing. Yeah, I'm not there, but I hope
one day before I'm 93. Well, you should because you
look fantastic. You look you, you take, you're
taking care of yourself. We will dig deeper into some of
(43:18):
the challenges that you've had through your journey cause with
some health problems overcoming them, you know, and I'm proud of
you for it. I've never allowed myself to be
a victim no matter what, no matter what is going on in any
chapter of the story. And there's been a few chapters
that are dramatic, frightening, physically, emotionally,
(43:41):
mentally, all of those things, but I've never allowed myself to
be a victim. I'm thankful for every day I've
had. I feel like I look back at my
life and say I've been blessed immeasurably.
As far as how health challenges,I've never been that one that
focuses on that. I I work through it.
(44:01):
I am faithful and believe that there is someone other than me
that got me through it. And I'm not, I don't know, I'm
glass half full kind of person, always have been.
And I think attitude is more important sometimes than
medicine. And you could hear whatever you
want from the doctor. And I remember one time they
(44:23):
said you're not out of the woods, and I said I didn't even
know I was in the woods. Two years ago, Charlene.
About two years ago. Seven years ago.
Seven years ago, Charlene went under major surgery.
She had a kidney transplant. It was life or death, and she
survived it. And she is alive today, looking
(44:47):
great, healthy, still has thingsyou have to do I'm sure.
Actually, I'm thankful I I have to take daily medicine.
Yes, I'll be on anti rejection meds for the rest of my life.
But I got sick from a cold, a cold that attacked my body,
(45:08):
became an autoimmune and attacked my kidneys and I was in
kidney failure and I never missed a day of work.
I had looked back over the five year period and said, well, how
did I get so sick? I'm thankful because then my
kids started having kids and I was able to be present instead
of not only did I get the diagnosis because actually I was
(45:30):
collecting money for the Donnellan Chamber annual
Boomtown event where I passed out in the parking lot before
walking into a business, broke both my hands, was worried about
getting my nail fixed and takingthe asphalt out of my hands that
then I followed up with a doctorbecause my hands were both
broken and they did some blood work and said, Charlene, you're
(45:52):
in kidney failure. So what?
How am I in kidney failure? So I went through biopsies.
They thought it was the C word. It was not.
And that's when I was discoveredto have an autoimmune from a
cold that settled into my kidneys and attacked them.
So at that point I was working for a bank and the bank had been
(46:15):
sold and I had a high level job,a lot of stress company had
changed their course of really caring about people.
And now we are all just numbers and machines.
And I stayed with the company and chose the type of dialysis
that a lot of people are not familiar with.
It's called peritoneal, and you actually use your peritoneum in
(46:37):
your stomach as a filter. So every night for 11 hours,
seven days a week, I hooked up to Mr. Wonderful, which was my
dialysis machine, and it was adjacent to my bed and it only
allowed me to go 20 feet to the restroom.
So I would joke that I was in a very controlling relationship
(46:59):
because to me, humor gets me through a lot of things as well.
Well, since you say that, when you said Mr. Wonderful, I
thought you're going to tell us about your vibrator.
No, no, no, not that one. This was the dialysis Mr.
Wonderful. And so anyway, Long story short,
I did that for seven years before six years, I'm sorry,
(47:20):
before I got the call that therewas a match.
But I believe looking back when I've been, I'm on dialysis, the
new company tells me we no longer need you, but if you get
better, please come back. So now I lost my job, lost my
car, lost all the things that were materialistic.
But what I gained, I got to be ahands on Mimi.
(47:45):
I got to be fully invested in myson's daughter, who was born on
the West Coast. Chris.
Yes, and he had beautiful Harper.
I was there for the sonogram. I was there for the first month,
the 1st birthday, all the things.
And so in retrospect, looking back again, if I was still in
(48:07):
that high level position, it would be, oh, I can't take any
more time off. Oh, I don't have any more
vacation time. And so that's how I've looked at
that chapter of my life or chapters, I should say.
So now I'm healthy, I have a clean bell of health.
I'm enjoying a glass of wine with you.
(48:28):
I. Mine's non alcoholic but yours
is full full full. Potent.
Full yes. You know what, Charlie, you've
been what my, you've been one ofmy mentors throughout time,
throughout our friendship. And you're, you're, there's a
couple of you, but you're one ofthem.
And you've always guided me. And the bank that you worked at,
I followed you. I was at the first bank you
(48:50):
worked at. And then when you went to the
other bank, I followed you to that bank.
And I didn't follow you because of the bank.
I followed because of you. I wanted to be where you are.
You are a bright star. You are motivation.
I can always count on you to make me feel good.
I know that when I look at you, that you've got my best
interests at heart and that you really truly care about me and
(49:11):
love me. There's not a lot of people out
there that are like that. You are one of those people.
Thank you. Back to the speed dating.
OK now. So did you find anybody that you
liked? OK, so no.
So then I felt peer pressure because I was like, oh, OK, so
the last guy that came in late, remember late, he came to me
(49:35):
second. Now he only had a minute and a
half because she had a timeline of when we had to end this
event. So I got a minute and a half to
learn his first name, where he worked, and he apologized for
being late. Was he handsome?
He was nice. Nice looking, yes?
So I he was, he's handsome, he was nice.
(49:58):
No. Nice looking.
On a scale of one to 10, one being ugly, 10 being Gaga, what
number was he at? He was probably a 7 1/2, Very
nice. He was nice looking.
Nice, yeah. Absolutely, but I I liked he was
quiet. Describe as build.
Probably 511 that had some bulk on him.
(50:21):
Wasn't a gym rat or so it just seemed like a very down to earth
nice looking guy. Was he from the area?
Transplant from work. His work moved him to this area.
Did he have a wedding band suntan?
Not that I noticed at the time, but wait for that stuff.
Wait. I looked, I looked.
(50:42):
So I did check yes on him because I felt like he never got
the full 7 minutes or whatever it is, right?
He's that full 7 minutes now so.So we end up getting I get a
call 2 days later and said hey guess what you and so and so
both checked yes and I said oh OK so we communicated it was his
(51:05):
first name John like Travolta. You're making that up.
We ended up meeting at Chili's and we spent two solid hours
just getting to know each other,talking.
So you had a date so. Yeah.
Oh, wait. OK, well, we gotta start over.
No, no. So you, you had the speed date.
How'd you so you OK, So you guysboth checked?
Yes. So then the coordinator there
(51:25):
shares your numbers. With these just the listeners.
So she's confusing you and I hadto bring her back.
Thank you. Thank you for keeping me in
line. Because we're getting ready to
hear about the night of passion and I can't wait.
OK, so the coordinator. OK, so the coordinator says you,
you know you and so and so said.Both said yes.
(51:48):
OK great now I said yes because I just shared with you why.
I don't know why he said yes, maybe he felt the same way.
We sit down at the towards the end of the meal.
He then says something about on again, off again relationship
with someone and they just offedagain.
And it was just a month ago. And the truth was he wasn't
(52:10):
really late because he was working late.
He got cold feet. Now my answer was, I appreciate
your honesty. You know, thank you for telling
me that. That's very nice.
But obviously, I don't think you're in a place that you
should try to start dating. Maybe you need to kind of close
that chapter first, because his answer was, yeah, I'm not sure
(52:33):
I'm done. Oh geez.
Yeah, yeah. Get the F out of here.
Right, stay in your cold feet home.
Take a hike dude. How about your new girlfriend?
How would she feel about that? Women do it too, so it's not
just men. That no, no, no.
And I don't think honestly, honestly, I don't think he did
it maliciously. I think maybe he thought in his
(52:54):
heart of hearts, because maybe he thought this is what he
needed to do to finally make it off, was to start with someone
else. But we both know that's a recipe
for disaster because if you're not over the person, you
shouldn't start with someone else.
So you know, amicably. Thank you so much.
(53:15):
It was great meeting you, getting to know you.
I wish you the best. At least by your dinner.
He did. Did you get dessert?
No. No.
No dessert. Did he take you bowling?
No. So you even get any fingers in
the holes. None.
You're so bad. Am I though?
Am I? I want to thank you for sharing
(53:36):
your story about speed dating. Do you have any other speed date
sessions set up? Is it going to happen again
anytime? Soon I'm waiting for you to
create this new environment thatI speak of.
I don't think that would be veryhard, no.
All you would really have to do is have a facility to have it at
like a Community Center, you know?
Or no. No.
(53:56):
A house? I don't know.
Well, no, because you don't wantto bring strangers.
No, definitely not. So like a Community Center set
up tables. It can even be.
I think you need music. Oh definitely.
I think it's everything. Music I think you need to have
little snackies on the table like you said, just nothing.
I mean, not like a full course meal just to bring down the tone
(54:19):
and let people feel comfortable and have conversations.
So what I would do is, so basically, here's what it is
speed dating. You look online, see where the
speed dating is around you, thenyou go there.
You do have to go on the computer and sign up or register
or do you just show up? No, no, no, you do have to pre
(54:40):
register so they know how many people are coming and she was
very good about making sure there was a balance with males
and females. Sounds good, so you show up $25.
Yes. You get a free drink out of it
and I understand that sometimes it could be different.
Sometimes it be $30.00 with two free drinks or 0 drinks.
(55:00):
But you do your speed dating andyou do prepare questions,
correct? Yes you can, but they actually
this event provided questions ifyou wanted to use them.
That is really lovely, I love it.
Would you say all around this was a great experience?
Yeah, I think it was awesome. It was awesome that I made
(55:22):
myself do it. Yeah, I I think it was great.
Now, how would you rank this with speed dating versus dating
websites? I don't know.
So I know people that successfully are with their
soulmate and they have a wonderful relationship and they
(55:42):
met them online. In this day and age, I don't
really know. It's so awkward.
It's like a fish out of water. Marco.
Polo. Speed dating, what a great thing
to do you know if we're going toserve food there though, nothing
with poppy seeds my God, for obvious reasons, poppy seeds and
the teeth. Horrible big turn off for
(56:04):
dating, but totally support the speed dating.
Thank you Charlene for joining us and putting yourself out
there to share with us your veryintimate details of your life.
We love you and I know you'll befamous off of this episode.
I think you're going to help a lot of the single people out
there, men and women. I would like for everyone to
(56:25):
meet. Speed dating's very own Mr. 88
she himself PD Good luck Charlene and hang on enjoy the
ride. Hi.
Hi. I'm Charlene.
Hi. Is it Charlene?
Charlene. Hi, I'm Petey.
Hi, Petey. Nice to meet you, Charlene.
Very nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
I don't know what's going on. What?
(56:45):
Where is what time is it 730? What's going on?
What was your name again? I don't know what's going on.
I don't know where. Are you OK, Petey?
Would you like some water? Do you have any balloons on you?
Can you get a balloon? Can we get a balloon?
I kind of forgot where I was fora moment there, Charlene.
What do you like to do for fun? Well, I like to do puzzles, but
I like to do puzzles that don't have all the pieces.
(57:07):
I figure it out. I have a pretty good
imagination. You know, when I was growing up,
all my friends went to college and I was convinced that balloon
animal making was my destiny. Oh, are you kidding me?
I love balloon animals. Would you like a balloon animal?
I haven't learned how to make them yet, but you seem like the
perfect person for me to make a balloon animal for.
(57:27):
Do you have any balloons on you?Can you get a balloon?
Can we get a balloon? I'd like to make a balloon
animal for you. Is that possible?
I don't think it's going to be possible right now PD, but I
like the idea that you're so creative.
Have you ever been in a hot air balloon?
I have been in a hot air balloon.
It was amazing. I haven't either, but we should
do that. We should totally do that.
We should definitely go on a hotair balloon.
(57:47):
I have PD, I've said so not today.
We could make balloon animals ina hot air balloon.
That's incredible. I've never been in a hot air
balloon, wouldn't even know where to go.
But we should do that. We should definitely do that.
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. When can we do that?
What kind of car do you we have?I don't have a car.
I rode in a car once. I'd love to ride in your car.
What kind of car do you have? Do you live at home or with your
(58:08):
mother, Petey? Do you open the window and stick
your head out the window when wedrive down the highway?
Yeah, my dogs do that too. Do you have cable television?
Because it's very important thatI watch my programs.
Was it Charlene? Yes.
I forgot where I was for a moment there, Charlene.
You sound tired, Petey. Are you OK?
Do you like Dungeness crab? We should definitely do dungeous
(58:30):
crab. I've never had Dungeness crab
before. I've heard it's really good.
Charlene, we should do that. I haven't.
What are you doing after this? We should definitely go
somewhere. Have you been to the movies
before? Mom took me to the movies once.
I haven't been since. But we should definitely go see
a movie. I think she sounds great.
We can make. Balloon animals while we're at
the movie theater. That sounds like a great time,
although I don't like popcorn. Do you like popcorn?
I'm a big fan of popcorn. We can get a hot dog.
(58:50):
Oh my God, have you ever been toMilwaukee?
They have the best hot dogs you've ever had in life.
I've never been, but I've heard.I don't know, I.
Saw a movie once but I'm not sure we should go see a movie.
We should do that. We.
Should go to Hollywood. We should be in the movies.
That sounds like a great time. I've never been to Los Angeles.
I heard California's really nice.
I spent a lot of time in Milwaukee.
I don't know what that is because I'm not allowed to drink
alcohol. The doctor said it could affect
(59:12):
my personality. And that, ladies and gentlemen,
is how you turn a simple hello into a restraining order.
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