A Family Affair by Jennifer D. (16, F, Chicago IL)
"My very first date happened when I was about 16. He lived far away, so most of our communication happened over the phone or Facebook. Finally the day came when he said he would drive an hour to see me and take me on a date. I was really excited, and extremely nervous. He told me to dress formally, and that he would pick me up at 5. That night, I waited for half an hour, and finally decided to call him at 5:30 to make sure everything was okay. He told me that his Dad had left ten minutes ago with the car and he had no idea where he was going or when he'd be back. Finally, he called me and said he was on his way. At this point I had been freaking out and waiting for my first date to come for more than an hour with little communication. When he picked me up, his dad was driving, his mom was in shot gun, and his little brother was in the back seat with my date. The entire family had come on our first date. Not only that, but I was severely over dressed. Everyone was wearing jeans and t-shirts and I was in a skirt and heels. It turns out that the entire family was going to Olive Garden for his mother's birthday.
We got there, and got a table. The parents started asking me about myself, like my beliefs and what I liked to do at school, which turned out terribly because they were super conservative and Christian (Me being a member of a Democratic club and agnostic). This led to an awkward silence that only ended once the waiter came by to take our orders. Being a vegan, I just ordered a salad which led to a long discussion about my weight and how it seemed like I had an eating disorder. Throughout dinner, my date didn't say a word to me. He did however, manage to flick cheese at me, get stains all over himself and make loud, rude comments about the people sitting at the table next to us. After dinner, we all went to a guitar shop where he played a guitar for an hour instead of talking to me. I was dropped back at home early because they wanted to get home."
