My parents were far more impetuous. My mother was riding an elevator at work, when she (and the girls she was friends with) spotted my dad.
In his youth, he was good-looking. He was a bit of a dandy, wearing dress pants, a white shirt, and a tie into work. In the locker room, he changed into the uniform of a janitor - that's what they called the job in non-pc days. For the rest of his shift, he cleaned up Ohio Bell's Cleveland main offices. Then, at the end of his shift, he changed again into his upscale traveling clothes.
He was eventually promoted out of the job, and into a repairman job, when he was cleaning office late at night, and paused for a moment in an executive office. He was examining the chessboard that had been set up.
"Do you play?" the man said. Dad acknowledge that he did.
Then, the man offered a game, and my dad accepted. And won.
The man spent some time talking to dad, and later, when he heard of an opening that needed to be filled by a smart person, he thought of dad.
Normally, those positions were only filled by high school grads, which dad was not. But, the strong recommendation of the executive overrode the policy.
Because of that, dad was able to gain access to the track of promotion, and eventually retired as an an electrical engineer.
Oh, about that elevator? Mom, spurred on by her friends (who also thought he was cute) whistled at him. Dad saw her, and arranged an introduction through a mutual friend.
That was in the fall. On February 14th of the following year, they eloped. At the time of my mother's death, they had just celebrated their 46th anniversary.
Send the story of how YOUR parents met to me, and I'll post it.
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