I haven't had many dates. I've probably turned down more than I've had. There are some things I don't let myself get pressured into doing if I don't want to... and this is one of them. I've been chased... man, at least half a dozen times, sometimes very aggressively. Women can be scary.
And I'm super prudish, I'm not ashamed to admit it. I've never even kissed a girl - except kinda once in elementary school where 5-6 guys actually tried to physically force me and a girl I was friends with to kiss - and I intend for my first kiss to be on my wedding day, Lord willing.
My most awkward was my first date. It was my senior year of high school. I went to a really small Christian high school, and honestly wasn't close with anyone in my class of 10. We didn't have prom but had a junior/senior banquet instead. I should have gone my junior year and skipped the one my senior year. Instead I skipped my junior year and went to the banquet my senior year... anyways the one my junior year was on a yacht cruise out of Baltimore Harbor. The one my senior year... was a rented barn in the middle of nowhere, lol. Oh man, now that I think about it it sounds like the setup of a horror movie, haha!
There was this one gal in my class who always seemed to think we would get together eventually, but our values were just too different. I didn't want to skip the banquet that year but I also didn't want to go alone, so I asked a really nice gal that I had worked with for several years and that I liked. Turns out she had a boyfriend but she said she would go anyways. I probably should have... disentangled from that situation right then. I have no idea how women think. Maybe she thought we were just going as friends. And honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking. Was she a friend or a romantic interest? I really don't even have a clue, even today.
Well, I went to pick her up and met her mom for the first time. I immediately felt bad because she had gotten a nice prom-esque dress and I had opted for a suit not a tux. The dress was a bit racy for my school's standards, too, lol. I hadn't been to the place before and this was back in the days when GPS wasn't readily available. I had a small handheld GPS for hiking but nothing for driving directions. It was the flip phone era still. I got pretty lost trying to find this random farm in the middle of nowhere. It was so awkward. She was a really good sport about it, and fortunately I had left us enough time that it didn't end up being a big deal... but man, it was so awkward. So the evening was off to a good start.
It was all downhill from there. The banquet ended up being a catered meal... and that was it. There wasn't much to do except sit around and talk (no music or dancing at my Christian school). There was a horse carriage ride around the property, but it was short, very uncomfortable (I didn't care but a lot of the gals complained) and chilly. The gals were cursing the fool who thought this venue would be a good idea for women wearing nice dresses. Climbing up into the carriage was apparently a real challenge also. Ah, the trials of womanhood! The farm was also pretty muddy, lol.
And the company! Like I said, there were no activities to do or anything, so it was literally hours of sitting around trying to think of things to talk about. And I already mentioned I was not close with my classmates... spent more than enough time with them at school. And it was awkward for my date who didn't know anyone. The whole thing was a fiasco. But my date was a really good sport about it all. I couldn't apologize enough to her afterwards...
Ugh, I'm cringing just remembering it!!