Horrible Dating Memories

I was fortunate enough to meet Hubby when I was only 18.  I say fortunate because I was not cut out for the dating scene! And when I hear of others' experiences with dating and boyfriends and such I realize how lucky I am to have skipped all the potential heartbreak and drama!

I didn't go on very many dates.  By not-very-many I mean only two or three other than the school dances that I went to (and at those dances either I asked the guy or a friend told the guy to ask me.) 

Boys just didn't like me.  It kind of sucked. Of course that's all water under the bridge now.

I found myself thinking about a few horrible dates I had, though and thought I would share.  There's nothing profound to be learned from this. (Ok, maybe there is.  But I'll worry about thinking of the lesson in all this once my kids get to dating-age.)  Just a bit of entertainment so please feel free to laugh along with (or at) me.


1. Senior Ball
I was desperate for a date.  The guy that I had gone to a few dances with had asked out some other girl (I had jealousy issues over that!) and I didn't know who to ask.  My friend, Maria* was in need of a date as well.

I had a freshman friend, Amy, who had a senior brother who went to another high school.  Amy convinced her brother and her brother's friend to go with us. I knew the brother and did not want to go with him (I was a jerk) so we figured that he could go with Maria and I would take my chances with his friend that I had never met.  I don't think I met him at all until the night of the dance (maybe once?)

Turns out the friend was a 15 year old sophmore.  He was obviously just there for the food and to do a friend a favor.  He was nice and didn't balk at my attempts at making him a prop for pictures, but he made no effort to treat this like a date.

The brother drove us (another girl and her date came too so we had 3 couples) in his parent's minivan.  The sophmore insisted on sitting in the front seat.  Then when we got to the prom, he was so tired from doing 4H stuff at the fair all day that he fell asleep at a table after a couple obligatory and awkward dances.

It was all so lame.  I wish Maria and I would have just gone stag and had fun!


2. My first almost-boyfriend
After high school graduation, I started attending a junior college and joined my brother's group of friends.  I started flirting with one guy, Justin, and he asked me out on a date.  We went to dinner and then to a movie and had a really fun time.

On the date he was putting out some very clear signals. I thought there was a lot of flirting going on and he put his arm around me a lot that night and held my hand during the movie.  The next Sunday he even came to my ward to sit with me and put his arm around me and stuff like that.

I thought I finally had a boyfriend!  This guy was totally into me!

Turns out, though, that he was a just big fat jerk and was leading me on.  I found out pretty soon after that Sunday that he was doing the same thing with another girl (or two-the details are fuzzy now.)  There was nothing between us and there never was.

I was so hurt and angry!  I remember I confronted him about it in a text. I felt like such an idiot for falling head-over-heals for the first guy who gave me an ounce of attention. 


3. Ice Skating
About 5 months after I graduated from high school, my friend Emma (who's two years older than me) and I decided we wanted to go on a double date to the ice skating rink.  She asked her boyfriend-not-boyfriend (they were totally a couple but she didn't want to be because she was preparing to be a missionary) but I couldn't find anyone.  It was the day of our date and I was desperate (do you sense a pattern here?)

So Emma made a call to a guy in our large group of friends at college that had recently come home from his mission. I had not met him before so was going to go on a blind date.  I don't think Emma even told me his name.  Not long after she told me she found me a guy, she called me back to say that he backed out.  This jerk stood me up!

I was left with only a couple hours to find someone or cancel the date.  I finally asked Josh. Josh was my friend from high school and coworker.  We got along really well but our entire friendship consisted of goofing off during Seminary (scripture study class before high school every morning) and goofing off at work (Baskin Robbins.) He was also a year younger than me, still in high school, immature, and I was not interested in dating him at all.

I don't know how I phrased the question when I asked him to come with me, but I must not have made it clear that this was technically a double date with another couple.  Because he brought his male cousin (who I think was his same age/maturity level or younger.)

That was pretty awkward to be there with 2 teenage boys with Emma and her 20-something year old boyfriend-not-boyfriend.  It was fun but still, not what I had in mind.

Best part is: the returned missionary who stood me up was Hubby!  We didn't put the pieces together until after we were engaged.  Turned out he had returned that very same day (or the day before?) that Emma called him.  She didn't realize that he hadn't been home for a few more days.  So when she called, he was in "missionary mode" which told him that one of the sisters was in need, so he should say "yes" and help.  But then he realized that he hadn't had any time to see friends and family and adjust to life at home yet.  Also he thought, "Oh, crap!  I've known nothing but missionary life for the past 10 months.  I'm not ready for girls!" 


So what's your worst dating story?

*All names have been changed.