Teens navigate obstacles of dating

Sweaty palms, butterflies, and shaky legs are all side effects of going on a date. Everyone wants to impress who they’re seeing, whether it’s a blind date with a stranger or someone you finally worked up the courage to ask out. Even so, things don’t always go as planned. 

Some people try double dates because they feel it might make things less awkward. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for senior Juan Martinez.

“I had a double date with this girl and her friend,” Martinez said, “ and (her friend) had problems with her date so they were just arguing and it made things awkward. I think it was about their one month anniversary.”

One date with them was all it took for Martinez to keep his distance.

“It was just a really bad date,” Martinez said. “We didn’t hang out with them anymore after that.”

Another dating tactic is meeting people online. This can lead to unpredictable dates, and sophomore D’marion Klalo didn’t know what was about to come.

“It was with this guy I met off of Yubo,” Klalo said. “We went to this Dairy Queen. He was dressed in all yellow and he looked like a banana. He only got a Dr. Pepper and tried to get me to throw it away when he was two feet away from the trash can. I paid.”

  Klalo explained how the plans didn’t go well, and ended in an argument. His date told him he was into witchcraft and wanted to hex him after getting a piece of Klalo’s hair.

Klalo wasn’t scared by these text messages and eventually just stopped talking to his date. Luckily, there hasn’t been any problems since.

When dating, it’s important to look out for personal belongings, especially if it’s a stranger. Junior Mya Contreras was able to catch a thief in their tracks.

“I met this girl,” Contreras said, “she was really sweet but it was the first date and she was trying to steal my Crocs. It was at my house, and when I went to walk her out I couldn’t find my shoes.”

Contreras noticed her date was acting a little off, so she asked if she can see what was in her backpack. Her date kept saying no, so while she was distracted, Contreras looked and found her Crocs in the backpack.

“I felt bad because I thought she was doing it because she was poor,” Contreras said. “She wasn’t. She just liked the idea of having Crocs.”

Ghosting, flaking, and catfishes have almost become the norm in these new generations, so it won’t be uncommon to have plenty of terrible dates. Either way, it’s going to take a couple dates until the right one is found, so stay safe and date responsibly.