First Date with Covid

Dating is a challenge even in the best of times. Just think about how awkward the entire situation really is. You’re meeting up with a person you’ve never seen in person before and you have to make a good impression. You also have to find any kind of common ground that you share is the hopes of making a personal connection and continuing your relationship. It’s enough to keep you second guessing yourself all the way home and deep into the next day. Now add Covid-19 and social distancing to equation. Not only do you still have to hit on all of the usual marks, but now you have to do it over a web cam. It’s enough to make someone swear off of trying to find love altogether.

The world shouldn’t stop turning because a once in a century pandemic is ravaging the planet, though. You still have to get out there and you still have to give it your all. If you do it properly, you can come out on the other side of the Coronavirus with a soul who can change your entire life for the better. Here are some tips on crushing that first date in the age of Covid.

Use your home to your advantage

The first big difference between a pandemic date and a traditional one is location. You’re not meeting up in a fancy restaurant or whispering to each other in a movie theater. You’re sitting at home and talking to someone on a web cam. That’s a huge challenge and works out to be a very personal one. The saving grace of most first dates is that they don’t happen in your house. You can sell yourself as someone who’s completely put together in every way possible. You’re literally hiding your dirty laundry back home while you laugh over cocktails in a swanky pub.

Now you have to date from home, you can use it as a conversation starter. Turn the whole thing into a game where you can both find something in your house that’s meaningful to you. Explain what it is or have fun guessing at what makes it important. It’s a fun and entertaining way to shrug off the tension of opening up your home to a practical stranger.

Structure is still important

Remember that just being on your sofa isn’t a good enough reason to toss the dating structure out the window. Dates have a natural beginning, middle, and end. Make sure you take advantage of them. Start off your teledate with drinks. Then move onto the appetizers before your main course. The worst thing you can do is just turn on your cam with a half empty pizza box in front of you. Dating is pageantry, if nothing else, and you have to stick to it. Also, wear pants. You’re not going to get away with a button down shirt or perfectly pleated blouse if your lower have is just covered in the loosest possible lounging underwear that you could find.

Remember to have fun

The most important thing is for the both of you to have fun. That’s what dating is supposed to be all about. You’re not showing up for an interview here. You’re meeting up with a person who you could end up spending the rest of your life with. Be easy going about the whole thing and you’ll be halfway there. Oh, and clean your damn room. No one needs to see your used socks yet. You still have every opportunity to keep that dirty laundry locked away like you’re supposed to. It just involves a little more elbow grease than it used to.