A few months ago I took a close friend out with me to meet up with a different group of my friends.

I was happy to have her along, but I had an ulterior motive – I wanted to hook her up with a male buddy of mine who would be at the dinner. The prospect of getting the two together had intrigued me for a few months. They’re both attractive, incredibly intelligent and sophisticated. It seemed like a great match.

But about an hour into the evening, I could see the two weren’t talking. In fact, my girlfriend wasn’t talking to anyone because, well, she didn’t know anyone.

I knew I had to do something.

Trying to be subtle, I mentioned some of my pal’s many accomplishments, her awards and honors, her travels, her interesting job. Everyone’s ears pricked up. The guy’s did, too. The two talked for a long time after that, while I kept up the conversation with the rest of the crowd.

Four months later they’re still not a couple. But they do talk a few times a week, and I see a lot of potential. Having talked to them individually, I think they do, too.

Looking back, I realized what had happened that night. I was my friend’s wingman.

I had never heard of this term until a Bangor pal mentioned it to me one night on a trip to the Sea Dog.

“You gotta be my wing man tonight,” he said on the ride over.

I never really understood what he was talking about – he didn’t give me a clear answer about what defined a wingman, which I think was because he was embarrassed he had asked in the first place – until that night at dinner with my friend.

Then, a few months ago, a co-worker told me about www.wingwomen.com.

Although the premise of this business’s Web site is a bit sketchy – basically you’re paying someone to pretend to be your friend – and the service is only available in New York right now, the idea behind it has a lot of merit. More on that in a minute.

When you avail yourself of wingwomen.com’s services, you’re basically hiring someone to go out on the town with you. The wing woman is paid to talk animatedly, laugh and make you look like a fun person. Then, the plan goes something like this: women watch all of this happen, assume you’re the kind of guy they want to hang out with, too, and will gravitate toward the conversation, the wing woman can talk you up a bit … and poof, you’ve got yourself a couple of phone numbers.

“At Wingwomen.com we provide ‘Wing Women’ to help you have a good time and more importantly to assist you in [picking] up those girls who always seem to slip through your fingers,” the Web site proclaims.

According to the site, there are a couple of main reasons the wing woman concept works.

There’s the “domino affect,” (yes, I know it should be effect, but I’m just taking this stuff from the Web site) which is the theory that women are attracted to men who have women around them. The other part is that men with women around them are less threatening because if a guy is out with women, it’s a seal of approval.

There are also the theories that women want what they can’t have, and women are very jealous and competitive with each other. Remember, I’m just taking this stuff from the Web site. I didn’t say I believe it.

Again, this kind of reminds me of the whole wedding-date-for-hire thing. It’s dishonest because the wing woman is actually a total stranger who doesn’t know you at all.

But the concept of a wingman (or woman) may have some validity. Go out in twos, have a few laughs, enjoy each other’s company and watch what happens. People like people who like to have fun. We’re attracted to the life of the party.

I think it’s a bit harder to go out as male and female friends because strangers could easily assume you’re a couple, but if the designated “wing person” can help bring in the potential interests (and clear up the noncouple issue) it’ll work, too.

So if you’re still interested in hiring a wing woman, and if you’ll be in New York sometime soon, it’ll cost you $50.

Or you can get a mixed group of friends together, go out and genuinely have a good time.

For free.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at jbloch@bangordailynews.net