It can be incredibly nerve wracking to go over to a date’s house for the first time. You’re not always prepared for the skeletons in the closet. This is exactly what 31-year-old local woman Katie Skrip experienced when she walked in to her date Adam’s apartment and and instantly noticed a guitar propped in the corner of his living room.
Katie had seen it all in her years on the dating scene: the messiness, the weird pets, and so many acoustic guitars. So she knew exactly what she had to do – walk right by it and ask if she can have a glass of water.
Yes, this modern day hero scanned Adam’s place with the precision of a grizzled detective and never let her eyes rest on that six-stringed conversation prop – not even for a second!
Katie learned from past experiences how easily this observation could trigger a series of events akin to watching a 245-photo slideshow of someone else’s vacation. Giving in to this natural urge had caused her to witness earnest, close-eyed John Mayer covers from less than an arm’s length away.
She had decided long ago that she wouldn’t do that to herself ever again.
So that night, she did what her therapist taught her to do: Pretend it’s a coat rack. She didn’t fall for it when Adam “accidentally” knocked over a bowl full of guitar picks, when he tried opening a bottle of wine with his capo, or even when he asked her if she wanted to see the rest of the apartment but just showed her a poster of Bob Dylan.
Thanks to Katie’s brave work, we can all apply this in our own dating experiences. And it’s not just guitar-specific – this lesson applies to athletic trophies, pretentious books in prominent shelf positions, signed scripts of any kind, and anything that resembles a home brewing setup.
Bravo, Katie! And thank you.
