A guide to Date Night
Updated: May 24, 2020
Welcome to the first in my Life Skills series. Don't get me wrong, I am no sort of life coach and I am not even going to try and promise you perfect guides or solutions to anything.
But, like any nice chap might, I'm sharing a few insights I might have picked up along the way. This was actually first posted, in some form, on a former blog of mine The Journal of a 21st Century Gentleman. It is a slightly cringey stumble down memory lane, but hey, we've all had those moments.
Anyway, I digress; date night.
Arguably a date is the situation where the gentleman’s capability to live up to that name is most keenly tested. It is the arena where the fusion of the modern and traditional sides of chivalry combine.
And it has it’s challenges. Oh lord does it have it’s challenges. Some things which were once chivalrous are now archaic. Some are sweet to one date while being offensive to another.
Anyone who can successfully navigate an evening without putting a step wrong is either lying or has had far too much practice.
To quote that great philosophical mind Baz Luhrmann, my advice comes only from my own, meandering experience.
> Walk road side > Pick your date up > Don’t be late
> If it's a first date, don't take flowers; it is something to juggle and chances are you don't know them well enough to pick right > If you are going to dinner: have booked in advance, know where you are going, pick quickly - reading a menu is not a sociable activity
> Don't discuss your work at length, don't discuss your ex at all > Be prepared to pay, be prepared not to > Speak your mind - no one likes a pushover > Aim to open doors and let your date lead; don’t insist > Be flexible. Find the line between what you think is right and what they find comfortable > Read the signs. For the love of god pay attention to body language, tone and topic. This above all else!