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From: moran@aluxp.UUCP (moran)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: n.r.j.singles
Message-ID: <273@aluxp.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 11-Aug-85 17:31:04 EDT
Article-I.D.: aluxp.273
Posted: Sun Aug 11 17:31:04 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 14-Aug-85 22:29:24 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Allentown, PA
Lines: 51

Recently, I had the (mis)fortune to attend Homowack Lodge (in the
Catskills) Shabbos Nachamu Singles Weekend. Yes, I had heard all
of the stories about how it was a meat market, etc., but I wanted
to see this legendary event firsthand. (I also figured that it was
infinitely better than going to a shadchen or otherwise being
"fixed up".)

Well, all the stories are true. While this wasn't the first Homowack
singles weekend I've been to, it certainly was more of a zoo.

I did have some interesting conversations, and I made some observations
firsthand. Some of these are surely stereotypes but they really held
up. I'm looking for comments by the net. (Obviously, this does
not fit on net.singles.)

===> The women there that are still college age seemed, on the whole,
to be doing nothing with their lives but looking for a husband. They
seemed to be hanging around until he shows up. (One memorable example
told me that she was taking off a year teaching, and then "I guess I'll
go to dental school." The reason that she was taking a year off was
to _avoid_ dental school!!)

===> (equal time) Very, very many of the guys there were socially, well,
retarded. This is no doubt due to growing up in an all-boys environment
in school. But one would think that for those that are working or 
attended co-ed colleges they could at least open their mouths during
meals (optimum meeting times)! Some of these people really looked
like nice guys, but they were painfully shy. Whether they expected Ms.
Right to sweep them off their feet, I don't know.

===> (corollary to 1 and 2 above) The most interesting people I met
were either >25 years old (and presumably with more learned social sense)
or they were not quite as religious as the average person or they
were ba'ale t'shuva (more "normal" teenage social lives).

Singles' weekends still seem to me to be the lesser of all evils,
especially for non New Yorkers who would have to schlep to NYC
for anything else (Simchas Torah in the upper West Side? Forget it!!).

Any comments are welcome, and it is to be hoped that this topic will
liven up the net a little.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Alan Lustiger
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AT&T Technology Systems
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(215)439-7883

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