Date Night Stigma

Tonight marked yet another momentous occasion in the Booth household. We had an impromptu date night AND it was fun for both of us!! Yay for progress! Date night has become a bit of an obstacle in our home as of late. Here is our typical dialogue...

Me: "So, what do you want to do for date night tonight?"

Alex: "I don't care, what do you want to do?"

Me: "Ummm... how about we go to dinner?"

Alex: "Yeah, that might be good... do you really want to go? ... We could just make something here...?"

Me: "I don't really feel like cooking dinner, but I guess we can eat here if you don't want to go out."

Alex: "I don't know, I don't really feel like eating out."

Me: "Okay, what would you like to do?"

Alex: "Whatever you want to do is fine."

Me: "How about we go see a movie?"

Alex: "....I don't really like entertainment... is there something else we could do? What about bowling?"

Me: "No, I hate bowling. Bowling in Provo on a Friday night is ridiculous.."

*Note: Provo has a large dating population, it's probably the dating capital of the world. Trying to do any date type activities on a Friday night between 6-9 is pretty much impossible... and since LDS people have that geeky streak in them, the couples at the bowling alley actually know how to bowl - the right way. I'm sure most are semi-pro, making me and my granny shot look even more ridiculous. No thanks, I'll pass.

Alex: "We don't have to go bowling.."

Me: "Why don't we go to IKEA and look at some things for the house? We've been talking about that for awhile...?"

Alex: "That could be good... Is there something else you'd rather do? I don't really feel like shopping.."

Me: "So, what do you want to do?"

Alex: "I don't know... I don't really feel good, I'm a little off today."

At this point in the conversation, he usually gets the sour look on his face - much like a person realizing they have to use the restroom - immediately! This is also the moment I usually choose to give up. If planning a date is this painful, how awful will the actual date be? Forget about it.

Me: "Let's just stay home tonight. We can do it another night.."


Alex [in martyred tone]: "Sorry I ruined our date night... we can still do something if you want to...?"

Me: "Dude, I'm over it - the horse is dead."

Moments later, his phone rings. It's one of his friends. What do I notice first? My indecisive, too-ill-for-date-night husband seems to have suddenly had a full recovery. Not only has he recovered, he's now asking me if I mind if he invites people over. What?! I'm baffled and extremely annoyed.

**Flash forward to this evening.**

I came home, told Alex I didn't want to cook dinner and within minutes we were in the car on our way to get some food. We went to Guru's Cafe and shared a huge plate of Cilantro Lime Pesto Pasta and a salad. Over the course of dinner, we noticed that several of the patrons seemed to be very Bellingham-esque... the granola kids! It's almost like being back home. (P.S. I'm so over guys wearing those tight, tight pants. Give your sister her pants back and go buy some masculine jeans).
Next, we stopped at one of my favorite places in Provo, the Provo City Library. Check this place out - it's beautiful.


I've been searching for the Wicked book by Gregory Maguire and surprisingly, there was one copy on the shelf. I grabbed it and on we went.

We were now officially headed for home, until something came up about the BYU Planetarium. How about one last stop?


In the process of walking to the Planetarium, I saw the "sights" - the lab Alex works in a few hours each week and the room where he and his Physics buddies spend most of their time studying (commonly referred to, by me, as the "Dork Code" room). We even took a few minutes to play with the cool gadgets in the Eyring Science Center lobby. The Planetarium itself was closed when we got there, so we decided it was time to go home.

We both had a great evening. To most others and myself, this would qualify as a date - but to Alex, we were just doing what needed to be done - getting food in our bellies, checking out the book I wanted, and seeing the sights at BYU. He was fine the whole evening, BUT had I classified it as a date beforehand, it would have been a disaster.

The moral of the story is, my husband is, in fact, capable of doing date night we just can't refer to it as such or the stigma will set in.