Meet Your Mate<br>When You Least Expect It

A new Early Show series called "Meet Your Mate" highlights the different ways that single people meet their mates. Many people today go on the Internet or used dating services. But just as many are finding the person of their dreams the old-fashioned way.

E. Jean Carroll from Elle Magazine joins The Early Show to give a little advice. Carroll believes that people need to be open to possibilities. Sometimes, you don't need to look for love; it will happen when least expected.

Jennifer Zabinski and Patrick McKee didn't meet on a beach in Costa Rica or on the flight back to New York. "We met on a taxi line," said Zabinski.

"I was standing there and she was reading the taxi leaflet and I just started talking to her," recalled McKee. "We talked and we talked and I was just having a great time and I said, 'Do you want to continue this over dinner?' and she said yes.

For McKee, this wasn't unusual.

"I don't have any problems just talking to people and meeting them," said McKee. "This was the first time meeting a complete stranger and having such a strong feeling about it."

But there's a first time for everything and the two were engaged five months later.

"I think you have to be open to it," said Zabinski. "You have to be in the right place at the right time and not be afraid to talk to strangers."

"Yeah, I think you need to be open to meeting people and not to get defensive and guarded, 'cause you never know," said McKee.

Carroll says that a '70s statistic showed that the majority of people met or married somebody within one mile. She believes, 30 years later, it's within three miles of one's house. She says McKee and Zabinski went all the way to Costa Rica but met in New York City on their way home.

"I think that the best way to meet someone is going about your daily business. If you walk to work the same way every day or eat lunch at the same place every day - you are bound to meet that special someone," said Carroll. "If you are running to the post office and see someone, give a smile. It may lead to nothing but it could lead to something."

Carroll says the couple helped shape their own destiny by being open minded. They could have let the moment pass them by, but they didn't. They had an impulse and gave in to that impulse and now are so happy together.

The key to being open is not to be so desperate to find love, says Carroll.

"The minute you are desperate to find love, it sees you coming and runs in the other direction," said Carroll. "You don't want to undermine yourself. It's all about seizing the moment."