Wednesday, August 02, 2006

First Date

Ah, love. Few things in life are more celebrated, hated, written and sung about. Especially the potential of love.

Roomie and I just returned from dinner at James' Gate, a fabulous bar with great food in JP. Midway through our meal a woman, she seemed to be in her 20's, sat down at the table next to ours and waited. Eventually a man about the same age showed up. I could tell right away it was a First Date. The body language tipped me off. Theirs seemed slightly stilted, as if each was not quite comfortable with the presence of the other. It also did not seem familiar, like they were skirting the edges of each other's personal space bubble. And then there was the chatter. It seemed designed to fill the spaces and deflate the nervous energy that surrounded the pair.

In contrast, neither Roommate nor I felt the need to speak to fill an awkward silence. I pretty much just sat and waited for him to finish, talking if I had something worth saying. Our body language was much more relaxed and unguarded. (Note- we are not romantically involved, his girlfriend probably would not approve of that.)

Meeting a friend at a bar is one thing. Meeting a stranger who has the potential of being Mr. or Ms. Right can be highly stressful. I hope that their Second Date (if there is one) will be easier and more comfortable.




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think first dates are usually very awkward unless your date and yourself are already comfortable with each other. Sometimes when dates tend to be romantic there is the tendency that tension will build up. That is why double dates are usually made during the first date because the presence of another person aside from your date is relaxing.