This was a first date with someone I don't think I care to see again. Nothing was wrong with him ... he was perfectly nice, the conversation was fine, he seems normal, intelligent, sort of fun ... blah, bah, blah. There's just no there, there. So, rather than bore you with details of our mediocre conversation, I'd like to take this opportunity to make some comments on dating in the heat.
For the duration of this blog, I've been dating in the winter. I've had to navigate the coat, the scarf, the boot, the snow, the sleet, all the while still trying to look cute, keep warm, and not fall down on the icy sidewalk on my way to meet my date. There are things about wintertime dating that are positive. Backpack and I had a lovely kiss one night during a blizzard here which was quite romantic, with the large, white snowflakes falling on our heads. Cold and wind encourage some guys to put their arms around you, rub your back, touch you in an attempt to warm you up. The drawbacks, however, are many and obvious. Showing up on a first date, or any number date for that matter, cold, wet, and probably pissed off at being cold and wet is not attractive and doesn't exactly set the right tone for the rest of the evening. Also, the desire to leave one's house when it's freezing and windy is very low sometimes and there were definitely nights this winter where I had to force myself to go ...
This brings us to the pros and cons of dating when it's warm. As some of you know, I've been on this dating odyssey longer than I've been writing this blog and had several dates in the dog days of summer last year. The cons of dating in the heat are obvious: sweat, pit stains, odor, wardrobe choice, sunglasses over dinner, activity choice, alcohol, hydration. I had to make a pretty wide mental shift to warm weather dating when I met Date Forty One this past Monday. We had a couple unseasonably warm and humid days here in my city, which were glorious and wonderful and long overdue in my opinion. I thoroughly enjoyed them. Then I had to get ready for this date ... we decided to meet at 5:30 for happy hour drinks and maybe some little bites of food. I suggested the time and place because after having the initial phone interview (I mean call ... hahaha) I kind of already had the feeling that I wasn't going to be attracted to this guy. He just wasn't very interesting. So, I thought a happy hour drink in the sun would be fine and I'd get home in enough time to eat some dinner and get ready for work the next day.
As I was getting ready, I had a slight moment of panic given the 80+ temps outside and the glaring sun. What would I wear? Pants, which would give me cover but I could be really hot ... or a skirt, which would give little cover but would be more comfortable ... I know it seems ridiculous but we all go through the mental closet pre-date deciding how best to visually present ourselves to someone new. I decided on a strapless dress I hadn't yet worn but felt really comfortable in and figured that even if the date didn't work out at least I'd look really cute and get an idea of how the dress might perform on future hot weather dates.
I arrived early, held down a seat at the bar and when my date arrived we moved to the outside patio to get some food and a couple drinks. Then the wind came. Having never resided in southern California but having heard on the news all the fuss last year about the Santa Ana winds, I felt like maybe they'd come to my East Coast city specifically for the occasion of this date. We got our food and I struggled the entire time to maintain composure, enjoy our treats, and not eat my hair as it would not, WOULD NOT stay out of my face. It was quite ridiculous and by the time I got home, not only was I hot, sweaty, a little disappointed and sort of sunburned, I was sporting a sweet, sweet rat's nest of tangles that I had to very gingerly tease out with a wide toothed comb and a lot of leave in conditioner.
But I digress ... like I said, this date wasn't really very interesting. He was nice. Blah. He was smart. Blah. He was reasonably attractive. Blah. At the end he gave me a hug and said he would get in touch so we could go out again. I mouthed a super lame "ok", smiled and walked away, knowing that I didn't want a second date.
Positives about this otherwise lackluster evening: found a new venue to suggest for future dates (very good drinks/service/food/patio), had a good dry run for new strapless dress, enjoyed the weather with a couple nice, cold gin gimlets and got some sun on the shoulders. All in all, let the summer dating begin!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment