Dating for Dummies

Most people have an exit strategy when a date starts to go awry. I need to work on mine.

In my defense though, I had to drive an hour to a small town for a second date I had recently. So I was committed to it - no matter how strange or terrible.

This was my second date with "Chuck" and things started off fairly regular. We went out for dinner at a local restaurant. Had some beers. Nothing crazy.

But Chuck told me about his night before which consisted of drinking till 5 in the morning with his buddies. I have no problem with that. I often do the same thing. But, I could tell he didn't really feel all that great.

As we walked the couple blocks back to his house, a little surprise popped up. Chuck couldn't hold it in any longer. Chuck upchucked. Blew chunks. Lost his lunch. Chuck puked 4 times on the short walk home! Awesome.

Poor Chuck kept apologizing and I honestly felt bad for him. I knew he was embarassed. He's a shy guy in the first place and there's no way this helped him. This would've been my perfect chance for an exit.

"Obviously you're not feeling well. I should take off."

But I didn't say this.

So we went inside his house. Where I was greeted by his mom. His unsuspecting mother who had no idea a strange girl may be coming over. Did I mention this was our second date? So while Chuck slipped to the washroom, to brush his teeth I assume, I talked with his mom. Luckily, I'm great with parents. I'll chat them up all night and charm their pants off.

I'm not sure why I didn't go running in the other direction after this disaster. Maybe I'm forgiving to a fault. Maybe it was pity. Maybe I was curious what would happen next. We all have these stories. As a single girl you tend to rack up these types of stories and because of these you develop flags or signals. Don't ignore those.

From this experience I've come up with two very important dating etiquette points:

1. Even though one of my biggest pet peeves is when people cancel plans or bail out, if you are not feeling well, it's okay to cancel.

2. Warn your roommates (whoever they may be) if you are bringing over company.

Happy dating and try not to get puked on.