That cliché moment that happens on TV. The girl character has plans with a guy character and all her friends say, "Oh, so it's a date." The girl character says. "No, it's not a date. We're just going as friends." Her friends say, "He's picking you up. You two are going to see a movie. And the both of you are having dinner after. Sounds like a date to us." This type of conversation happens pretty often on TV shows. Still, how do you know it's a date or not? On a date, it's expected that the guy picks up the girl, the two hang out, have fun and the guy buys dinner or lunch or brunch or whatever. I'm broadly outlining the example the media and history has provided us to be a stereotypical date. Now I was asked to join Odyssey by my friend because she felt that her team needed more male input, so here we go.
First things first, if the guy comes to pick up the girl, it's not automatically considered a date. Not by that very small, minute detail. There is nothing that clearly implies picking up the person and driving together is romantic. Honestly, I think its clever and smart. Carpooling saves gas and money, so hats off to the couple who first started this cliché, and started saving time and energy. Now for anyone who doesn't want to give the wrong impression and signal to their friend that this is not a date, you can offer to help pay for gas, just like any other friend who is feeling grateful for the ride. First step in preventing your friend from getting the wrong idea is to offer to help pay for these sort of things.
If the plan is to go get some food and the guy says he'll pay for the meal, this is a red flag for a date. Let's be real for a minute. The people reading this are either college students, like me, or maybe high school students. We either don't have jobs, or if we do, we typically don't make a lot. Bottom line: We're broke students just trying to survive. We don't have the money to be paying for the whole bill. So if someone pays for the bill, that's an indicator that your friend might be thinking it's a date. To avoid this, ask for separate checks right off the bat. A simple tactic like that will help keeps things friendly and not romantic.
Drinks. This part is just like food. Pay for your own drinks to avoid any confusion, or let the person pay for your drinks if you want it to be a date. Just make sure you know what you're drinking and how much. Safety is everything.
Another indicator is if you can tell the guy is trying to impress you. I'm a guy, I know how this things goes. Most guys will try to impress a girl, in order to get the girl, with looks, personality, or achievements, whatever works. If you sense even a small percentage of this, there's a good chance your friend might be thinking that it's a date.
Now these are just some ways I think can help know if it's a date or not. It's just my opinion. You don't have to like my ideas. They're just some things to think about. And if the methods I provided for sorta "friend-zoning" your friend doesn't work, I wish the best of luck to you.
