What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?
‘One guy asked me out in a word document. MLA formatting’
No matter what anyone says about true love, dating is a necessary evil when it comes to finding that special soul mate.
Whether it’s sitting across from one another in silence or experiencing a surprise case of indigestion, everyone has gone through the pain of a bad date at some point in their lives.
Especially with dating apps like Tinder and Bumble, it is too easy to find yourself in an awkward situation with a near-stranger.
No matter how discouraging these “romantic” encounters may be, it’s fun to look back on them and be glad they’re over.
When it comes to other people’s stories–Well, they’re just fun to read.
Some Penn State students chalked up the awkwardness to their own mistakes. Others just didn’t seem to “click” with their suitors. Either way, even in Happy Valley, there are bumps along the road to true love.
Rachel Wolf, Alumna
“He picked me up at my house in a very nice car, and drove me 45 minutes back to his hometown. He was one of those guys who sat on the same side of the booth as me, so things were off to a weird start already.
“I’ve never been ashamed by my eating habits, even on a first date, so I ordered a pretty large entrée. After I ordered, my date proceeded to order a side of fries as his meal. He looked so disgusted as he watched me eat my meal after he had finished delicately eating his fries. He even suggested I get a to-go box way before I was done eating.
“I’m a pretty easy-going person, so when he told me he had something planned for us for the evening, I still had a tiny bit of hope. That would soon change. He drove me straight back to his house, opened the doors, yelled, “Mom? Dad?” then after no one responded, he turned to me and smiled. I immediately feigned an upset stomach and called everyone I knew from the bathroom trying to find a ride home. Miraculously, absolutely no one was able to come get me, so he had to drive me home. All 45 minutes were filled with silence and the smell of my leftovers.”
Chloe Hoffman, Freshman
“One time, I got dropped off at this boy’s house before our date and his mom started telling me weird stuff. Like the fact that he was breastfed until he was 5… Needless to say, we only had one date.”
Taylor Grove, Freshman
“I ended up going to this play my girlfriend’s mom had recommended, under the impression that it was only going to be my girlfriend and me. Little did I know, her mom and aunt tagged along. So yeah, we go to this play and it’s a low budget local production that was written by some random student at a nearby college. When the play starts, it gets worse and worse. The main character, who was a sexualized jerk, kept going into serious detail about an affair in the plot that no one needed to know about. Needless to say, I had to endure the vividness of the sex jokes right next to my girlfriend’s mom. It was a bad time.”
Sophia Nitsolas, Freshman
“One guy asked me out in a word document. MLA formatting.”
Chris Champi, Graduate Student and TA
“It wasn’t so much the date that was crappy, but it just started to get awkward because he started asking me really personal questions after just meeting him. Anyway, he got drunk to the point where I had to babysit him. After that, I got home and he texted me nonstop apologizing and then asked when we could see each other again. This happened for days until I finally had to block his number from my phone. The funny part is he’s still around, I see him sometimes, we just don’t have any kind of contact. I just put my head down and walk away.”
Anonymous
“I was in Rome with a girl and I found this great museum on a map, so we walked way outside the touristy areas, like to the edge of the city. Anyway, we got crazy lost and didn’t speak any Italian, so we couldn’t ask for help, so I went into an apartment building, climbed like 10 flights of stairs and found out that we were on the wrong side of the city. The relationship, as well as any confidence I had in my navigational skills, just disintegrated after that.”
While the courting process can be tragically awkward, it’s important to remember that dating is a trial and error part of life that everyone goes through.
So, despite your undying love for Netflix, don’t give up! And remember- no matter how bad it gets, your dating horror stories will always make for great online reading material.