It’s common to put your best foot forward when you date someone new. It’s the positive impression period. Things are sunshine, rainbows and roses. It’s the mystery and the excitement. Your dopamine levels are soaring through the clouds. You will do anything to keep this excitement and adrenaline flowing – and I mean anything.
The Mission: Keep reading to discover: What I Ate to Impress a Guy!
I was newly dating someone – I will call him Jasper. It was the “getting to know you” stage of our budding dating life. We were out to impress. I laughed at his stupid jokes, thought his cringe-worthy accent was cute and accepted the fact he wasn’t heel-worthy*. Yeah – this was going to get serious.
One day, I went to his house to hang out. I probably wore my favorite jeans and a cute top. Nothing too sensational, but I didn’t look like a slob either. Jasper then asked me if I was hungry and that he’d make me dinner. Hell yeah! The first home-cooked dinner was important. You get to see their cooking skills, how they eat, and how their manners present themselves. Of course, I let him make me dinner.
So he started cooking. He asked me if I liked steak. Of course, I did – I’m a mountain girl, we like our steak. I remember patiently waiting sitting at his dining room table petting his dog while Jasper slaved away at the stove.
“Ok, it’s ready,” he stated. At this point, I was a little nervous. I only saw him bring out one steak, but I thought we would share it. Then I realized that there were no vegetables or potatoes… or a second plate.
He brought over my steak – plopped on a dinner plate.
That was it. Just the slab of meat. I looked at it and my first thought was, “boy that is one gray piece of meat.” Well, in the impression state, I HAD to eat it. I took my knife and cut my first piece. It was tough. I reluctantly put the bite in my mouth and began to chew. It was disgusting. Thankfully, Jasper was cleaning up in the kitchen. Mind you, he didn’t cook himself anything nor did he sit and “eat” with me. I hesitatingly ate a few more tiny pieces. What I Ate to Impress a Guy, I couldn’t eat anymore – it was gross. So I started feeding it to the dog. I had to! I didn’t dare ask for A1 – that is every chef’s nightmare when they make you a steak.
So, I lied to Jasper and told him that the steak was good (the dog liked it!). He then nonchalantly told me that he just got it butchered. Well, that raised a red flag in my mind. A butcher? I inquired a little more only to comprehend that it was DEER MEAT (to my sophisticated readers out there – Venison)! I’ve had venison before – and from past experiences, I disliked it. I still dislike it. I was flabbergasted and it serves me right for trying to impress someone through fabrications.
Needless to say, Jasper was short-lived. Not because he made me venison without telling me or because he didn’t eat with me or because he wasn’t heel-worthy*. It was because it wasn’t meant to be. The dating stage was only prolonged because we both got caught up in the impression stage of being something we’re not.
The Moral: Be True to Yourself! We are on this Journey Called Life – and you need to live your life for YOU. This is the only way your personal life will be the happiest. (And ask what you’re eating before digging right in if you’re unsure!)
* Heel-worthy – when a man is tall enough for a woman to wear heels and still be shorter than him.
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