"Just club soda and a romaine leaf for me, I had a late lunch."
When on a date, I've never been a 'just a salad for me' kind of girl. If I'm in the mood for a salad, I'll have one. If I want a deep-fried bonanza, I'll have that. I have only one rule about eating on a date: it has to be as non-messy as possible. I don't want to be covered head-to-toe in barbecue sauce while sitting across from a man I'd like to impress, you know?
A few weeks ago I broke that rule without realizing it. I was hungry and instead of perusing the menu with the dual mission of "what do I want to eat and will it make me look like a jackass while eating it" I just said "OOH, FAJITAS" and ordered them.
So the food arrived and I proceeded to OMNOMNOM to my heart's content. I was enjoying the conversation, the food and the baseball enormously. About halfway through the second fajita* I realized that I was elbow-deep in guacamole and probably not at my most ladylike. Of course as soon as I was aware of my sloppy predicament I tried to take a dainty bite and failed. You know those disaster-bites where you completely lose control of the situation and there's no way to recover? Yeah. I probably did a decent Cthulu impression with the peppers and onions hanging out of my mouth. (Yeah, that's another thing: who eats fried onions on a date? I mean, DUH!)
When I had regained my composure I said to my date, "You know, I'm not usually this sloppy an eater."
He said, "I think it's cute!"
Cute? Cute? My food is falling apart on me and barely making it from my plate to my mouth and he thinks it's cute? Fried-pepper-Cthulu is CUTE?! What's wrong with him? (He, by the way, was eating a nice, tidy burger.)
This got me thinking. Why am I overly concerned with being dainty and ladylike? Aside, of course, from normal table manners. Why isn't sitting down and enjoying a good meal considered ladylike? [Definitions and usage of the word 'ladylike' are a discussion for another day as I'm just realizing how much the word is bothering me.] Is this some holdover from a bygone era where it was bad for a woman to show her appetites? How aware are you of the way a person of your preferred gender eats? Thoughts about eating and dating? Should I just shut up and eat the fajitas?
*Firefox does not recognize the word fajita. It wants to change it to fajitas. Does no one ever mention a solo fajita? Poor fajita. Not only is it all alone but no one even acknowledges its existence.
A few weeks ago I broke that rule without realizing it. I was hungry and instead of perusing the menu with the dual mission of "what do I want to eat and will it make me look like a jackass while eating it" I just said "OOH, FAJITAS" and ordered them.
So the food arrived and I proceeded to OMNOMNOM to my heart's content. I was enjoying the conversation, the food and the baseball enormously. About halfway through the second fajita* I realized that I was elbow-deep in guacamole and probably not at my most ladylike. Of course as soon as I was aware of my sloppy predicament I tried to take a dainty bite and failed. You know those disaster-bites where you completely lose control of the situation and there's no way to recover? Yeah. I probably did a decent Cthulu impression with the peppers and onions hanging out of my mouth. (Yeah, that's another thing: who eats fried onions on a date? I mean, DUH!)
When I had regained my composure I said to my date, "You know, I'm not usually this sloppy an eater."
He said, "I think it's cute!"
Cute? Cute? My food is falling apart on me and barely making it from my plate to my mouth and he thinks it's cute? Fried-pepper-Cthulu is CUTE?! What's wrong with him? (He, by the way, was eating a nice, tidy burger.)
This got me thinking. Why am I overly concerned with being dainty and ladylike? Aside, of course, from normal table manners. Why isn't sitting down and enjoying a good meal considered ladylike? [Definitions and usage of the word 'ladylike' are a discussion for another day as I'm just realizing how much the word is bothering me.] Is this some holdover from a bygone era where it was bad for a woman to show her appetites? How aware are you of the way a person of your preferred gender eats? Thoughts about eating and dating? Should I just shut up and eat the fajitas?
*Firefox does not recognize the word fajita. It wants to change it to fajitas. Does no one ever mention a solo fajita? Poor fajita. Not only is it all alone but no one even acknowledges its existence.