By: Jess Sorentino (University of Delaware)
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A lot of times, first dates consist of dinner, and maybe a movie afterwards. But a meal is usually the the main part of the date. It’s a time for the people on the date to kind of get to know each other, have a good time and decide on whether you can deal with sitting across from this person again, let alone for the rest of the meal.
One way to insure your date will not be itching to get up and leave while you’re enjoying your dinner is to not eat certain foods. There are some foods that are just messy and awkward to eat, and I will recommend a few that should not be your pick of the night when you go out on a dinner date.
Firstly, any kind of do-it-yourself Mexican/ethnic foods. Take nachos for example. They come in a heap with a crazy amount of toppings and some extras on the side. You literally have to focus on eating the chips, and making sure each one is properly loaded with cheese and beans and jalepenos and whatever else.
Then you bite into the chip and you run the risk of everything tumbling off of the side of the chip and onto the plate. But if you try to eat the whole chip at once, you may be chewing like an animal for a full minute afterward and your conversation is over. Trust me, nachos are not a date food – Unless you’re dating the nachos.
Another type of food I would consider to be awkward while on a date is spaghetti. First of all, it’s messy as anything. If you cut it all up, you look like you’re still five years old, and if you’re still five then why are you out on a date? Besides that, if you try to just eat it like an adult, it could potentially splatter the table and your clothes and you could end up walking around with some pasta sauce polka dots for the rest of the evening.
More on spaghetti: How awkward is it to actually eat? Like, okay you twirl it on the fork, yet it seems to be never-ending and all of a sudden you have a gigantic wad of spaghetti you need to feed yourself, and it’s just weird. Then you have those straggler strands of spaghetti that don’t want to be with the rest and you wind up slurping them into your mouth. It takes a lot of concentration, like the nachos, and probably should not be ordered if you want to go on date number two.
One more food that should not be your number one menu option on a date is wings. I don’t care if you’re watching the Super Bowl at a bar, or you’re just at a pub and are in the mood for wings. Have you ever watched someone eat wings? It’s really gross. You have to get all up in the bones and your fingers get slimy. I have one friend who gets sauce on her forehead somehow when she eats wings. My roommate said eating wings on a date is equal to committing social suicide. They are the kind of food you eat with your friends.
If you go on a first date and you’re looking at the menu, take the foods that don’t require much focus or concentration to eat into consideration when it comes time to order. You don’t want to be so wrapped up in your food that when you look up from stuffing your face, you didn’t notice your date left. That would just be awfully embarrassing.
