My Favorite First Date

I guess I need to preface this post with an explanation. For those that don’t know a lot about me, I wait tables part time. It a great source of income to help pay for races and when I’m not touring it gives me something to do. Not to mention it is a great source of new and ridiculous stories to tell.

While I’ve been witness to many a date at the restaurant tonight I got to witness a first date and it was easily the most adorable thing in the world.

It was two teenagers that had been introduced by their moms. They had been talking for a few weeks and were finally meeting in person. I only know all of this because their moms were sitting across the restaurant and I was waiting both tables.

It was refreshing to watch the two nervously talk to one another and hold hands. They seemed to be having a great time.

Again, adorable.

This got the rest of us thinking about our own first dates.

One that stood out the most was my favorite first date.

First and foremost when it comes to first dates, I have to say I’m a bit lax about the whole thing. I, personally, think we put too much pressure on the whole thing and I would rather be relaxed and casual.

Seriously.

The last date I went on was on Christmas Day. I realize that sounds insane but when both of you have the day off and no family nearby, why not?

We had met on Tinder and had been chatting for a while. The date was planned spur of the moment, which gave neither us time to prepare or over think anything about it. We met at Disney Springs, grabbed a drink, saw a movie, and grabbed some more drinks.

It was a great time and though nothing really came from it, it was proof that casual dates are among my favorite.

So back to my favorite first date.

The two of us had met on Tinder and had hit it off right away. We decided to meet but then came trying to figure out what to do.

I don’t remember how we came to it but it was decided that we were going to have a scary movie and pizza night.

The plan was set and we had a date. He’d be coming over the my place with the wine and I would be supplying the movies and pizza.

Now, this had the potential to go horribly wrong. If I didn’t like him in person I was not doomed to have him in my home for at least the duration of a movie.

Before I had a chance to second-guess the whole thing, he arrived.

My fears were quickly alleviated and we hit it off just as well in person as we did in chat.

Given our “hook up” and “Netflix and chill” culture, this whole situation had the potential to turn into a one-night stand.

It did not.

I know we watched two movies that night but for the life of me I can’t remember at least one of them. I know we watched Pet Semetary but I can’t remember the second. I’m tempted to say it was Sinister as it’s one of my favorite modern-day horror films but it’s escaping me.

That night we shared a kiss and the whole thing was just amazing.

I can’t say that I would ever take a chance on having a stranger over to my house on the first date again but this was certainly one to remember.

For curious minds, the relationship didn’t last too long. We went on some really great dates to the parks and again at my house. The last time we saw each other is when he joined me for an evening at Halloween Horror Nights.

Because he didn’t have a pass to Universal we had to enter the park from the outside rather than mine norm which was to go to a holding area inside the park. I liked this method because it kept me out of the crazy entrance crowds. I don’t do well in crowds.

This is what he learned that night. As we were entering the park we ended up in the massive sea of people waiting to get in. I became overwhelmed and had a panic attack. This was the first of three that evening.

At this point I wasn’t very open about my anxiety disorders including my post-traumatic stress disorder. I certainly hadn’t brought it up with him.

That night proved that he wasn’t willing to handle any of it and while we left that night with a kiss and a promise to see each other again soon, that didn’t happen.

So there’s that.

That first date though was something special and when I look back on other first dates, this one certainly stands out.