There seem to be a lot of first dates going on in my neighborhood recently. Or maybe they’ve always been there and I’m more aware because I just wrote a super awkward first date scene in the novel I’m working on… hard to know. Anyway, here are two of my favorite observed moments (partially fictionalized, naturally):
The Saturday Morning Coffee Date
They agreed to meet at the shop before heading off to wander through a city park. She had iced coffee and an everything bagel, plain. He had a frozen coffee drink with whipped cream and a chocolate strawberry crepe, covered in powdered sugar. I loved them for being themselves and giving gender-normed food bias the middle finger.
The After Work Drinks Sort-of-Date
They were old friends, who had never dated — plenty to talk about, but there was still the nervousness. He leaned on the bar and turned sideways to look her directly in the eye. Her legs were turned towards him, but she kept her arms crossed at her chest a lot of the time. She admittedly told bad jokes. He admittedly wanted to extend happy hour into dinner. They exchanged phone numbers outside before going their separate ways. He’ll call. She might answer.
I would love to hear about the fun things you’ve observed recently (or about your best/worst first date)! Tell me the story in the comments below!
Oh, and speaking of first dates and obnoxious gender-normed views on food and beverage, in case you missed it, I shared a first date story over on USA Today’s Happy Ever After blog earlier this week!
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