Dating Advice, From the Pro

by Luke McIlwee, intern

So you have a date with that cute waitress or teller this weekend, good work. Spending a ton of money for dinner at a fancy restaurant on the first date should impress her right? If your goal is to make her attraction towards you as weak as possible, then that’s the perfect thing to do. She may enjoy the free meal, but she is not going to be impressed by your supplementive behavior, and she will assume you are trying to buy her attraction. So a movie should do the trick right? Wrong. There is nothing more awkward than sitting in a dark room next to someone you don’t know very well for two hours while you wonder about what to do with yourself. Should you put your arm around her? Should you stay off of the middle arm rest? Who should hold the popcorn? It’s just a mess, and is derived from taking away from the date what is most important: communication.

The best dates are ones that don’t cost any money and allow plenty of opportunity to converse with your date. Most of the time the best date is very simple, like having her help you buy a gift for a friend at the mall or checking out the art at the local public museum. The main idea here is to have fun while doing something simple, because if you can’t do that then there is no hope for the relationship in the first place. While talking it’s important not to go into interview mode. No one enjoys the generic conversation that includes the usual questions like: where do you live, where do you work, how much time did you spend doing your taxes last year, etc. These questions are dull and you might as well just save time by exchanging resumes. Instead ask open ended questions that you are genuinely interested about, like what her passions are, what goals she has for herself and what she really enjoys doing in her free time. Keep the conversation light and fun, this way you will get a better idea of what kind of person she is and if she is worth spending more time with.