Blind Dates... another horrible moment of floundering

So I have always viewed blind dates as the ultimate low; if you need someone to set you up, then you need to get out more. What's even worse, and is even lower than low, is when your parents have to set you up with someone.
That was my experience last night. Weeks ago, my mom had come to me and told me a friend of hers had a guy she wanted me to meet and my mom was going to try and set up a dinner date so we could all mingle. I stared at her with unhidden shock and disgust. Are you serious Mom? I asked. You want me to go to dinner with you, your middle aged friend, and some kid you all think I should meet? Not in this lifetime.
Eventually, though, I relented. I mean, I'm desperate. I work, and work, and work some more, and sometimes sleep, and babysit, and work, and sleep and work. That's it- nothing more exciting than that. So when I got an email from this lady a few days ago, with a time and directions to her house, I agreed with a huge sense of imminent disaster approaching.
What I was unaware of until two hours before the event however was that it was not simply my mom, her friend, this guy and me, but oh so much more: my mother, my step father who is quite possibly the largest red neck this side of the Mississippi, my mom's friend, this guy, and both of his parents. I couldn't help but think that this was going to be the most awkward night of my life. So I decided to do absolutely nothing special: in fact, I went to the gym before going to work, and at work I played HARD with 30 or so kids, before going to this dinner thing. So not only do I perhaps not smell the nicest, but my hair's a mess, I've got marker and ink all over my hands from some pretty serious coloring sessions, and my makeup is almost non existant. I couldn't help but think of this as my mini rebellion to the whole set up. Take that parents, ha!
I had this image of the guy in my head. All anybody had told me was that he's "nice and such a good guy" so I'm thinking pudgy, short, with perhaps glasses and some messed up teeth and to top it off, he's a Dungeons and Dragons-aholic. I'm expecting him to try and entertain me with talk of the warlock he defeated in level nine and how his job at Game Stop is the most rewarding thing in his life. In short, I'm expecting one of the Sci Fi/Fantasy type customers that I have to smile at, painfully, while at work. Oh joy.
Okay, wow was I wrong. My mom had never met the guy either so I can't give her credit, but her friend certainly did all right- the guy was pretty cute. Very tall, broad shoulders which is a swimmer thing I like, blond hair, sorta a skaterish look to him. You can tell he does something active alot because there's not much fat anywhere; certainly not the pudgy geek I was expecting. And to top it off, he's funny, pretty dang smart and he's traveled which was pretty awesome.
So I'm thinking, cool, okay, not so bad. Except, it's almost worse when you think you might be able to like the guy- and then your mother turns to you both and smiles, saying something about how you should get together. And then her friend turns to you and says you two should get a group together and hang out. And then his mother asks you if he's gotten your phone number (he got my email address instead). So either he's playing it off really cool or he doesn't know this is supposed to be a blind date (although by the time his mother asks if he's gotten my phone number he should have figured it out because hell, NO ONE was subtle about it) or he's just not that interested. Either way, he was much more at ease, and I suspect much more himself, than I was. I was sitting in a pile of uncomfortableness the whole night, praying to whatever god or goddess would listen, to not let anything too outrageous be said (my step father was in attendance so the possibility of this happening was unusually large).
Anyhoo, the night ended, my parents left, he left, his parents left, and I left. Very uneventful. He shook my hand, nice to meet you, that sorta thing. And I'm driving home thinking, if my parents hadn't been there, I would have tried harder. I would have brought my A game because he was darn cute and certainly had something going on in his head worth exploring. But who knows if anything will happen now because he's only got my email which isn't so terribly promising. And, as if to make the cake a little sweeter, his parents, my parents and all their mutual friends will now be waiting and watching with excitement. God save us.