@kaydee50 - I think they're supposed to be meeting for the first time after matching on an online dating site.
I think it's a little unrealistic though. Most young couples I know who meet this way go to dinner or somewhere they can talk. They hug at the end and go their separate ways. Maybe they exchanged numbers sometime during the evening (?)
I think Ned is self conscious about his plaque psoriasis, and I think the commercial gives everyone a message that life is normal if you have this condition. You can still have a relationship. Ned gets to the theatre and imagines all of the (probably negative) attention on him. The older lady is someone he probably spotted as soon as he got there. She was in his imagination, then he saw her in his real life after the movie let out! 