Don’t Make The Mistake Of Dragging A Partner To Any Of These Date Sandtraps!
A date is a delicate thing – one that can make or break a developing love story between a fledgling pair trying their darndest to get to know one another. A date may go bad for a thousand different reasons, many of which are entirely unavoidable. But the one thing every dater does have control over is the setting.
Considering how greatly the success of a date hinges on the venue in which it takes place, here are some of the worst options you could possibly choose:
A Dive Bar
Look, dive bars are great for hanging with your buddies (especially on $2 Jager Shots Night, if your buddies are into that) but you’ll want an atmosphere slightly more conducive to romance during your get-to-know-each-other phase.
Where to go instead: A lively, slightly more upscale bar that attracts people in your age bracket – not just old locals drowning their sorrows.
A Sports Bar
The only bar worse for a date than the one described above is one replete with tacky sports memorabilia, greasy finger foods, and intermittent ear-shattering cheering and/or cursing. You might enjoy such a scene for the Big Game, but trust me – it’s not a good place to get to know someone.
Where to go instead: Curb your inner cheerleader until there’s a live game you can attend with your date in person. For immediate athletic satisfaction, throw the Frisbee around at the park.
A Buffet
Are you effing kidding? A buffet is no place to spend the night with a potential life-mate. Not even if it’s kinda classy – like an all-you-can-stuff-yer-face sushi and sake joint.
In fact, any place with messy foods like chicken wings, ribs, or sloppy Joes is a bad date idea no matter how the grub is served. You might as well dine in a high school cafeteria. (….That’s a joke. Please don’t do that).
Where to go instead: Any upscale dining establishment where saucy stains aren’t a constant threat to your outfit, budding relationship, and general wellbeing.
Your Apartment
Is your kitchen clean, or are noxious old takeout smells wafting from your fridge? Is your bedroom a romantic sanctuary, or a creepy lair that might terrify a visitor? The stress alone of prepping your place isn’t worth the trouble – but a first or second date at home may be interpreted as shady and presumptuous no matter what the condition of your apartment.
Where to go instead: Your date’s apartment…duh!
The Movies
So you’re telling me that you finally landed two private hours with the date of your dreams, and spent all of your precious time watching other people talking on a screen instead of doing so with your partner in order to get to know him or her better? Really? Is that right? Wow.
Where to go instead: A venue that facilitates conversation and productive discussion, such as the park, the mall, a coffee shop, or an ice cream parlor.
Any Family Gathering
Never introduce your parents, grandparents, siblings, or third-cousins-once-removed until after you’re an official couple beyond the honeymoon phase. It’s just too much pressure. Until that point, a younger brother’s violin recital simply does not set the right mood. (Seriously, I was once asked to attend one – and no, I didn’t accept the invitation).
