My Worst Date

In this era of love and romance, some individuals often wonder if chivalry still exists when it comes to dating. But despite the circumstances of a date, chivalrous behavior can still be seen in people of different generations. This is the kind of behavior that can contribute to a good date. But, if there’s lack of it shown on a date, the results are disappointing for anyone expecting it. I don’t believe that too many women expect their significant other to open the car doors for them when they are getting in or out of the car. Still, it’s nice to see a person make an attempt at a chivalrous gesture.

When I hear stories from friends or family about bad first dates or worst dates ever, I think back to my own worst-date-ever experience. It happened years ago, before the 21st Century, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. I can now laugh at it although I didn’t see any humor in it then. That date gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “surprise date”, and not in a good way. This is my Worst Date Ever memory that I will never forget.

It was the year 1985 and I was living in Cincinnati, Ohio with my father, working as a secretary for his church magazine publishing company. I had visited the city before and accepted the offer from my father to move there because it was such a beautiful place, with curvy hills and bright green grass covering the lawns of the nice homes. Although I missed my mom and family back home, I really missed talking with my so-call boyfriend. One fall Friday afternoon in 1985, dad and I were sitting in the office talking and joking about me not dating because I was too shy. Throughout my life, I had always been considered shy or “too” shy, so that was no revelation for me. During our conversing, the phone rung and my dad answered it on the first ring. To my surprise, it was my boyfriend from back home calling to let me know that I was on his mind. By the end of the call I was so happy to have spoken with him. The last thing on my mind was dating anyone in Cincinnati, especially since my boyfriend had just called me.

After ending the call, I was about to get back to my typing tasks when my dad says that he has a surprise for me when we closed the office for the evening. I wanted to ask for details about the surprise to guess what it was, but I didn’t. Instead, we completed our work for the day and closed the office for the weekend. While walking around the corner to my dad’s apartment, I listened for him to mention the surprise or what it involved, but he said nothing about it. At the apartment, I showered, dressed and groomed myself nicely in case dad and I were going out to eat. But after stepping out of the shower, I smelled the aroma of food. Less than 10 minutes after I got dressed, there was a knock on the door and I was told to answer it. I didn’t recognize the name of guy on the other side of the door when I asked, “who is it?”, but my dad did so I opened the door and invited him in. It’s then that dad tells me that this guy, Q, is a son of close friends who was there to take me out to dinner and to see a movie.

I pretended to be okay with it although I wasn’t. Right away, I knew this guy knew nothing about chivalry because not once did he open any doors for me, although I wasn’t expecting him to. We leave dad’s place and drive a few miles to the parking lot of a mall near the interstate where he pulls into a parking space, opens his center console and takes out what looks like a cigar. Obviously, he didn’t care about me knowing that it wasn’t a cigar because he lit, took two deep puffs and put it back out before snatching the car back into gear and speeding out of the parking lot. I sat quietly admiring the tall buildings as we headed towards downtown Cincinnati. It was interesting to see a McDonald’s restaurant in the center of downtown Cincinnati, where Q quickly zoomed into the first available parking spot and said this was where we could get something to eat. I didn’t have a problem with eating there for a dinner date since he was nice enough to be paying for both of us. Not! Q is walking so fast that he gets inside the restaurant before I do. But I’m still thinking that he’s getting both of our meals. However, as soon as I walk up to him in line, he points to the line next to him and tells me that it would be best if I get in one of the lines if I didn’t want to get at the end of the line. Thank GOD I had my purse with me. Each of us order our choice of food and sit together at a table. I quickly lost my appetite watching this man take down a Big Mac, fish sandwich, french fries, and a large strawberry shake. I was ready for that date to end but didn’t say anything.

Once Q finished eating, I grabbed my bag of food and we walked out of the restaurant. It was divine intervention for me when we got in the car and Q turned to me and said he forgot about an errand he was supposed to run earlier. He drove me to the front of my dad’s apartment building, stopped long enough for me to get out, and sped off. To avoid issues between my dad and Q’s parents, I told him Q felt sick, so he dropped me off.