When a man meets a woman for the first time and finds himself interested in her, the first thing he wants to know is if she’s available. If he finds that she is neither married nor committed to anyone on a regular basis, his next step will be to ask her out on a date.
If she agrees, he now has an opportunity to take the next step which he hopes will lead to their becoming a couple.
The first date or two can be nothing more than to ask her out for lunch or a cup of coffee. If she meets him and the initial one-on-one chats show promise of developing into something more, he then asks her out on a “real” date. This almost always means dinner and a movie or show.
Where he takes her for both activities can be a major factor on whether she will take him seriously, or relegate him to the broad category of “just friends.”
Dinner does not have to be anyplace plush. The prices on the menu are not as important as the kind of place where she can feel comfortable. Fastfood joints are out, of course. Ditto with greasy diners. He does not want to come across as a cheapskate. The best places are the small, intimate restaurants where the food is good and the ambiance better.
Presuming that she is enjoying his company so far, where he takes her for entertainment can be the clincher. Since movies are usually good choices – there’s something potentially romantic about being in a dark place together, seated side by side – they can either move forward a notch, or she can be disappointed in his choice, thereby sending him back to just Friendsville.
Guy movies are to be avoided like the plague. Any movie which has an egocentric leading man who treats women as second class citizens is out. There are exceptions, to be sure. If the woman is mad about Liam Neeson, for example, he can take her to any of his movies. His most recent one can be considered a guy movie (The Grey), but she can still enjoy is for no other reason than the lead star is her idea of a man’s man.
But the ultra-violent movies which are short on story and long on explosions and mayhem? Forget about it. This means films like The Fast and the Furious series, or The Expendables.
Comedies are almost always good choices, but not the ones that depend on gross humor to get laughs.
Well done art films such as the Oscar winning The Artist is a good call. Depending on her age, she may also go for such blockbusters as Twilight or The Hunger Games, with the latter an excellent choice because a young woman is the lead star and she shows women for what they are, as good and as strong as any man.
Sci-fi films are pretty iffy. If she’s into them, go ahead and take her to see Prometheus.
The important thing to remember is that she has to be entertained. Find out her likes and dislikes, guys. Forget your own for starters. Force her to watch Wrath of the Titans or John Carter and she will probably wish she had stayed home and rented a copy of The Notebook instead. And that first real date will probably not lead to a second.