Good things come to those who wait and a word about first dates.

12/02/2011 The Lady 1 Comments

But the truth is, I did nothing. Absolutely nothing.

At least nothing out of the ordinary that is, and perhaps I was even the slightest bit reclusive.

It just so happens that I have an amusing personality trait that forbids me from accepting any and all challenges [except those mandated from the pulpit] from others, and especially ones issued from dear friends.

So I let No Fear November slip by without another thought. Dust in the wind.

And so, allow me to let you in on a little secret: In the month of November, I was asked out on more dates than I have been for the past two years combined. Take that No Fear November! [This comment is in no way pointed directly at The Charmer. She is a wonderful human being whom I greatly admire and I think her challenge was quite apropos].

No Fear November went off without a single hitch, as there were no hitches to be had. I had no fear and feared not about my dating life.

With that tidbit of information under your belt, let's hop back into the fray.

A wise man [or at least a lucky man] is one who can ask a woman out for an evening filled with things that she absolutely adores. And that is where this latest fellow struck it rich. I received a simple phone call and was asked out for the next basketball game. I was thrilled. If there was some sort of scale that could measure my love for going to basketball games against my love for reading Jane Austen novels, I think Jane would win out only by the slightest smidgen. The Coquette loves basketball games. I would go out with Mr. Collins again if the date were to a basketball game because I love it that much.

Fortunately, the man who asked me out was no Mr. Collins. A nice, even-tempered sort of fellow who has been a close acquaintance for some time. And that is when it struck me, this marvelous epiphany: Most of the time we do not even notice people we could be attracted to until given the opportunity. I found myself in that position, and it wasn't only because of basketball. Here was a wonderful human being who I had glanced over time and time again just because there was nothing about him that specifically attracted my attention. And yet here I was, wondering if there was something about him that would change my mind.

Alas, there was not, but I chalk that up to the fact that all first dates are awkward. And I am a firm believer in the fact that most [if not all] first dates should never last longer than an hour. An hour is a perfect amount of time to become more closely acquainted with someone without having to scrape the bottom of the barrel for conversation. Sometimes you get lucky and you could talk to a person for hours, but more often than not, an hour is the human breaking point conversation wise.

But first dates become worse when you can't even talk to each other for five minutes. As was the case with this basketball date. Luckily, neither he nor I felt the need to fill the precious minutes of the basketball game with idle chatter, and so we were content to cheer and dance and give each other enthusiastic high-fives [Also, if you were either at the game or watching the game, you would have seen me on camera!]. But once we were on our own, and couldn't possibly discuss the game any further, it was nearly exhausting. It became a game of tossing questions that could be answered with one word back and forth and back and forth.

However, as first dates go, it wasn't the worst, in fact it wasn't even horrible. It just happened to be a first date, which are just generally a tad on the gruesome side.

All's well that ends satisfactorily.

Con Amor,

The Coquette

P.S. If you have any horrendous date stories, please

email them to us. We would love to read your

experiences, and who knows, maybe you'll get

published?