Sunday, October 24

Mrs. Manly

Halloween is one of my very favorite holidays.  It is the only one, other than Christmas, where everyone gets all decked out with decorations.  It is also the only day of the year when it is acceptable for a grown up to dress like a total weirdo, and tap into the childhood days.    

I also have a liking for all things spooky.  Not the satanic possession type, but the “I just jumped out from behind a corner and made you scream” type.   So when a few girls at my apartment complex said they were throwing together a date to go to a haunted house, I said, “count me in!” 

Background Checkpoint:
I have never avoided blind dates.  I know plenty of people who married a blind date.   I have also come to like the non-committal side of blind dates.  You don’t know the person, so you don’t have any of those pre-date assumptions.  Since you don’t know what they like or don’t like you can be your complete self.  If it doesn’t go well then there’s no loss.  You didn’t know them or run in the same circles before, so you don’t have to worry about the “we went on an awkward date” interactions afterword.

One of the girls set me up with this friend of hers.  All I knew was his name and when he showed up I was excited.  He was cute, and muscular.  I thought “heck yes!  I get to hold onto those arms while I’m scared tonight!”  For all intents and purposes of this blog his name is Sam.  Sam Horrigan.  Handsome right?  But it was a good thing I am short because his one big difference from the real Sam Horrigan is he is lacking height. 


We introduced ourselves and waited for the other dates to show up.  While we waited he didn’t say much , so I figured he was shy.  After getting into the car I realized that he wasn’t shy, he just was not interested.  He didn’t want to have a conversation with me, no matter how hard I tried. He would talk to the girl he knew, and then talk about himself to the group, but to me…. Nothing.     

Luckily Sam was gentlemanly enough to pay for us, but shortly after his stroke of chilvary he magically turned into a girl.  Ok, not really, but figuratively.  He made me go first through the dark, haunted halls, and cowered behind me when someone jumped out at us.  Apparently his masculine physique was all just for show. 

When we got back to our apartment building the other dates were talking about doing something since the night was young.  My date promptly got out of the car and announced he had to leave.  I’m not going to say I wasn’t happy about him bailing, even though it left me as a 7th wheel.    Let’s just say it ended my night, and our dating career. 

Date Success:  FAIL
Though I was impressed with the haunted house, next year I’ll take someone who will let me be the girl on the date.
It is always said that it’s their loss for not trying , but really, he kinda ruined the date for me too.

Pointers:
Even if you have no interest in your date, PRETEND! Fake it till you make it!  Any form of conversation is better than none. 
Also if you are a guy and scared stiff of haunted houses, don’t take a date. 

Wednesday, October 13

Background Check

In a religious atmosphere that stresses marriage, 20 is the new 30 for singles.  If you aren't married by 25 you are deemed an "old maid" and every time you run into someone the first question they ask after "how are you" is "are you dating anyone?"  You can start to understand why I was frustrated after yet another bad date and decided to start this blog. 

It has been said that chivalry is dead, but I hope that the art of dating is not being killed by the overuse of hanging out.  It has felt apparent to me that no one got around to telling these boys how to properly treat a girl on a date.  This is why at the end of each date post I will be putting a few pointers for any guys out there who might be committing the same crimes.

Some of my dates do deserve a pat on the back because not all of them have been total bombers.  In fact after quite a few of them I wondered why I didn't feel like it fit.  Blame it on the fact that I am picky, or that I have amazing brothers to compare them to.  The fact remains that they may be a great guys, but not great for me.

To protect myself, and my dates, I have decided to keep everything anonymous.  I am going to try and give my dates a celebrity look-alike name, and mix up the order of when I went on the dates.

I do hope you all enjoy, maybe pickup some date ideas, learn some things to avoid, and maybe get in a few laughs at the same time.   In the meantime I'll be here searching for Mr.Right.
Love,
Ava