At the end of Winter semester, I had the opportunity to go on a blind date. I willingly accepted. Little did I know it would turn out to be the most awkward date of my life.
My friend from track invited me to double with her. She said she didn't know the guy, but that he seemed cool and that he liked running. We already have one thing in common, so I thought this would be good. He comes to pick me up at 8:15 and right when I see him I notice that he looks much older than me....like a good 8 years older. He was balding pretty bad and I know that's a sensitive subject for many guys, but it was bad. I decided to get to know him before completely writing him off.
We went to Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner and my date and the guy we were doubling with were mission companions. They told us a story from their mission and I liked listening to the story, but then they went on and on and on about their mission stories for most of dinner. Don't get me wrong, mission stories are great, but not if that's all you talk about. We then headed out to go bowling. I got to know my date a little more and was surprised to find out we had a lot of things in common. Just about everything we talked about we had in common, which never happens for me. We finished bowling at 10:30 and the guys wanted to go back to their apartment and watch Doctor Who.
We get to their apartment and I made the mistake of sitting on the edge of the couch. My date sits right next to me. I cross my legs and fold my arms. In case you don't know, that's the universal sign of "I don't want to hold your hand". He puts his hand basically on my leg with his palm up. I looked down and just laughed. I think to myself, "Heck no am I holding your hand dude. Not only is this our first date, but it's a blind date. Not happening." He scoots closer to me and by this point he's as close as he can get without sitting on my lap. I tried to lean against the edge of the couch, but that didn't help much.
About 30 minutes into the show, he finally folds his arms. I think, "Yes! Finally he gets the point that I'm not holding his hand." I then feel his hand brush against my arm. He is now trying to find my hand while both of our arms are folded! I literally was thinking to myself, "This guy's an idiot. How in the world does he think I want to hold his hand?!" I tried to pull my hand away, but his hand was already on mine, so his hand moved with mine. I was thinking of what I was going to do. Would I pretend I got a phone call and that there was an emergency? Would I get up to go to the bathroom and stay in the bathroom for the rest of the show? Would I just say I didn't feel good and wanted to leave? I thought of every possible excuse. What seemed like years later, he moved his hand and put his hands back on his lap.
I think that this is the end of the most awkward moment of my life, but just minutes later he folds his arms and tries to hold my hand again! This guy is brave. I already denied him once and he's going to try again. Well, buddy, I still haven't changed my mind. It's not happening. The show finally ends. I stand up and put my coat on. I was still nice to him and smiled, but I sure was relieved that the date was over. He drives me home. I hugged him then got into my apartment as quickly as I could.
I learned a couple things from this date. First off, don't ever go on a blind date unless the person that is setting you up actually knows the guy. Second, don't sit on the very edge of the couch. That way if he sits next to me and I don't want anything to happen I can just slide over. Third, next time I don't want to hold a guy's hand I need to make sure he knows that. I thought I was being pretty clear, but maybe I need to make it even more clear.
I'm crossing my fingers that this semester I won't have any awkward dates, but we'll see what happens.
