Dating Diaries #2- How to Let a Guy Ruin the Entire Indiana Jones Franchise for You

Tired of hearing annoying dating advice? My Dating Diaries Series is all about what NOT to do. This story is a particularly juicy one. We all make mistakes in the dating game…and I hope other young women can be smarter than me. 🙂

The First Date

It’s a real shame I can’t enjoy an Indiana Jones movie. I mean I’m from Indiana and I love adventure! But anyway, my inability to stomach Indiana Jones stems from the night where I couldn’t stomach a guy’s kisses…

 So I swiped up on a guy on Mutual (the dating app intended for single members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). He wasn’t one of those guys that I was dying to meet, but I wasn’t against meeting him either. I’ll call him “James.” James had graduated from college and was working in Provo.

For our first date, we walked around the trail leading to Bridal Veil Falls, an iconic waterfall in Provo. We talked, and I wished we were doing something more exciting (picky and probably a little shallow, I know!) It was a warm spring evening, and the sun was slowly melting into the sky. We passed young longboarders and families strolling by.

The fresh breeze felt nice, but I was starting to get bored. Finally, near the end of our conversation, James said, “What’s your favorite dessert?”

Me, being obsessed with sugary and unhealthy foods, perked up at his question. I gushed about cookie-dough ice-cream, three-layered cake, decadent cookies, and of course, chocolate. He then asked me about my favorite meals, and then slyly he said, “Well, I’ll have to make you some dinner sometime. How about Friday?”

Basically, James was asking me on a second date, and he said it so smoothly, so sneakily like a ninja, that I felt I couldn’t say no. So I just said, “Yes,” and we planned for him to come to my apartment and make me dinner.

I trudged back to my car, baffled that a normal, unassuming guy like him could be so smooth. I didn’t dislike him, but I also wasn’t intrigued by him at all. It was quite impressive of him to snag an invite from me as easily as a pick-pocketer could swipe my wallet.

My Bad Indiana Jones Date

On Friday night, my fabulous roommate deserted our common kitchen and living room area so I could have the place to myself for my date. When James arrived, I ushered him in, and he went to work in the kitchen. Sadly, he had me help. (There is nothing wrong with that- that’s what you do on a cooking date- but I loathe cooking! I low-key should’ve thought about that before our date.) I had to help brown up the meat, and he made pasta and a special sauce that he added spices to. My little kitchen was soon filled with multiple pots and pans and the aroma of cooking food.

After the meal was made, we ate around my small kitchen table, just enough room for two people. At this point of the date, I liked the food, but cooking together in the kitchen did nothing for me romantically.

Then, we decided to watch a movie on my small couch. We picked Indiana Jones. After watching about twenty minutes, James put his arms around me and started being more physically affectionate. Then, he looked at my lips, and made a move. Me being me, I automatically kissed him back. So we started making out, and at first it was okay, but then he’d pause from kissing to whisper get-to-know me questions in my ear, like, “What’s your favorite color?” And “What’s your favorite childhood memory?” 

This pattern of kissing, then trying to get to know me for a few seconds, drove me crazy! I could barely focus on the movie, and I just couldn’t wait for the night to end. For some reason, I felt like I couldn’t kick him out. It never occurred to me to stop kissing him or ask him to stop. So I just kept kissing a boy I felt nothing toward and was inwardly begging, “Please Indiana Jones! Just be over! Let the movie end now!”

Finally, the movie ended, and James thankfully left quickly after that. I can’t remember if he asked me out again, but I didn’t agree to another date. As he left, I glared past the TV into my small kitchen, upset that he had left me so many dishes to clean. The only thing worse than cooking is doing dishes!

So Many Lessons to Learn, Young Hannah

So, you may be wondering, what is the moral of this story? There are many! First, this is a great example of how NOT to date: Consent to kissing a guy who you barely know and/or don’t have any feelings for! (Which, by the way, I was guilty of more than once). That often leads to lackluster kisses, and through my mistakes, I know God wants something better for us. He wants us to have fulfilling relationships with depth, not kiddie-pool flings.

(Don’t want to shame anyone here- just sharing what I learned trying to follow standards from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding chastity while also desperately dying to kiss boys. So the above advice could be helpful if you want to follow similar standards as well). 🙂

Second, what I’d tell my younger self: Girl, you can say no! You can stop kissing him. You can ask him to just keep it chill and just cuddle for the rest of the film. Or, you can even fake a stomach ache and ask him to leave. (Honesty is the ideal choice, but there are options!) You NEVER have to keep kissing someone you don’t want to kiss. In hindsight, it was unfair to me and unfair to him, to keep kissing him when I didn’t feel anything except irritation. (I don’t want this article to be about dissing him- I should have spoken my mind! He was a decent guy, and I wish him the best). 🙂

Third: Be warned! Be careful what movie you choose to watch when making out with a boy! Don’t let a bad make-out session ruin the entire Indiana Jones Franchise for you! 🙂

Comment below a bad date you had and what you learned: