No matter how well you prepare for a first date, it doesn’t always go to plan. From arriving on time looking half-decent, to keeping the conversation flowing until the bill comes at the end, it’s no small challenge to make a first date successful. To improve your chances of getting a second date, here are 5 common disasters, and how to rescue the situation if they occur!
- Arriving Late
First impressions count, so a late arrival is a bad start to any encounter. Embarrassing for the late person and frustrating for their companion, it’s not a good omen for a romantic evening.
What to do: If you’re the culprit, make a joke about how you considered standing them up before changing your mind. Then share the real story. It will make light of the situation, whilst helping you gauge their sense of humour. If he/she has arrived late, give them another chance – we’ve all been late before!
- Conversation Killer Things were going so well until you stuck your foot in it with that ridiculous comment. Now they’re looking at you like you’ve pulled down your trousers.
What to do: Don’t let that blunder become a deal-breaker – shrug it off and change topic with a question that will get them talking again. Or, if it’s really bad, apologise immediately and ask if you can start afresh.
- Awkward Silences If your problem is not rescuing a conversation, but starting one in the first place, it can become increasingly awkward. You’re searching desperately around the room for something, anything to talk about….
What to do: Talk about your day. However random it may be, tell them something that happened today – it will give you both a chance to think about the next conversation topic, and it may just make them laugh.
4. Embarrassing Eating
Whether you foolishly ordered the garlic mushrooms or you’re trying to tackle spaghetti with a shred of elegance, food can be a big cause of embarrassment on a first date restaurant scenario.
What to do: Don’t draw attention to it unless you have to. But if it’s really obvious, make light of the situation and laugh it off. Food around your face could be endearing, right?
- Downright Disaster There’s no avoiding the fact that this date is a DISASTER. But how on earth can you escape another few hours pretending that it’s going well and that you’re having a great time? This truly is an emergency…
What to do: Think up a plausible excuse, and fast. Don’t worry, FreeAndSingle has already come up with a few great excuses to leave a date early, https://freeandsingle.com/blog/4-amazing-and-believable-excuses-to-leave-a-date-early/, although some are more obvious than others!
Prepare for any eventuality and skilfully steer your date on the path to a second encounter, by following these tips on how to rescue date disasters when they strike. They might not be fool proof, but it’s better than floundering if things don’t quite go to plan!