It’s been decades since a World’s Fair last made a mark on the American imagination. Knoxville held one in 1982, and while a few may remember its landmark symbol—the Sunsphere—most Americans would look at a picture of the thing and think it was a failed Vegas attraction. The ’82 World’s Fair was a “specialized Expo,” dedicated to a particular theme—in this case, energy.
I attended that fair! I don't remember it the same way because I was still a child; for me, the most memorable thing beside the Sunsphere was a WWI-fighter themed ride, which I loved because of Snoopy and the Red Baron. The fighters were done up as Sopwith Camels and Fokker Triplanes, in a series that allowed them to be dogfighting each other, strongly suggesting that the architect had the same vision that my youthful self had as well.
Many years later I met my wife under the Sunsphere for the first time. We had 'met' online earlier in a Tolkien appreciation group, long before meeting someone you had first encountered online was considered a safe thing to do. Unfortunately for me the local security was not clear on why I'd be standing around below the landmark, and tried to warn her off that some scary guy was hanging around with no better explanation of why he was there than that he was going to meet some woman he'd 'met online.'
We'll be 25 years married later this month.
Son #2 met his wife online, even on a dating app. They are 40. It seems a brutl and demoralising way to go.
ReplyDeleteI can see myself in the situation of trying to explain to the nice security guard that "No, really, this is normal and she wants to meet me here."
Yeah, I think online dating sites sound terrible. I haven't had any experience with them, but they definitely do not come across as a good way to meet people.
ReplyDeleteThis was 1997, or early 1998, so before that was a thing. We met in a much better way. Meeting up with someone you first encountered through a common interest (especially one as reliable as an interest in Tolkien's literature) is a stronger ground than meeting someone you met on a dating site, which can go wrong in many obvious ways.
The security guard was totally not buying it. At that point it was 15 years since the World's Fair, and the site was not really much in use as I understood it. I picked it because it was an obvious landmark you could see for miles, so I was sure she could find it. Apparently there was a lot of crime there, however, so barbed-wire fences and armed security were the norm at the time. They tried hard to warn her off.
She'd just come from an interview, so she was totally put together in pearls and fancy dress. I'm sure that just made it worse. At first I thought she was too tight knit to be someone who'd be interested in me, but then she managed to keep up during the night ride through the mountains going home. We spent a week together in Savannah, and by the end of it I was already sure.
That's a great story, Grim. Shared interests are one of the best ways to meet people, I think.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I had been acquainted for several years, and then we bonded over a sick baby we cared for in Haiti. That’s when and where I knew she was the one.
ReplyDeleteMet my wife on a ferry,sort of- I was going to a tradesman's Christmas party, little did I know this ravishing Italian I was checking out on the boat was same woman who had invited me -we were both astonished when she opened the door. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteTravel is a great way to really get to know someone.
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