Dates And Bragging

[Eleuthera]

I never had a date like that (who am I kidding I've hardly ever had dates), but a friend of mine dated a guy like that for about a year and a half. We (the rest of our group of friends) did not enjoy hanging out with her and the guy a lot during that time.

It started out ok-ish, I guess he was testing the waters at the start. But the longer we knew him to more expertise in everything he seemed to develop...

 

[mitchell271]

I've bragged on dates, but only ever about real things. For example, sports achievements, music talents and other passions that I enjoy and have been praised for.

Have I been on dates where people talk incessantly about things that are obviously fake? Can't honestly say I have. I imagine it'd be hellish.

 

[BishopofAges]

I've not dated anyone with that sort of persona or personality attribute, however, I did know a few of them in my youth. They used to brag about anything and everything they had in their house and what they did during vacation and why he doesn't have any pictures because they were 'too busy having fun!'

I honestly didn't mind listening to them except when they started asking me questions then comparing their life to mine as if they intend to 'win' at it or something. I still see some of these people, and personality-wise, it seems they never made it out of high school. Kind of painful to watch actually, reminds me of Napoleon's uncle from Napoleon Dynamite, always talking about 'the old glory days' never really having any interesting updates about current affairs.

I can see the use in talking yourself up on a date, maybe polishing some of your skills a bit and making interesting conversation, but I can't deal with people who brag about being the best and then falling flat, coming up short, or just plain failing at it. When I try to talk myself up I do it neatly, "I've tried my hand at video editing, and know a couple tricks." or "I frequent the gym, but I don't try to live there." Then again, I too, remain single so who know? Maybe it works for some people.

 

[LiberalSquirrel]

Woah. I'll be honest, I'm feeling particularly bitter this morning, and I was ready to go off and play something incredibly violent to sate my bloodlust when the person you were about to describe mimmicked me perfectly.

But...I mean jesus. I'm terrible with women, if a woman is attracted to me, she is not scraping the bottom of the barrel as much as she is digging a hole beneath the barrel, but this...I didn't think people like this existed outside of movies. How does someone convince themselves that lying that much is going to work?

I've never been on a date with anyone like that, which means that the one date I ever had didn't have that happening. But I did have a friend who would swear that he was a god with women. He would constantly point out women to me, and encourage me to randomly chat them up. I never did, because this wasn't in a bar or anything, this was just walking around town. I can't believe it took me so long to realise, but I never saw him put himself out there like that. Years later, I find out he's only had sex once, and never had an actual relationship. True, that puts him one step better than me, but for a while, I seriously thought he was the person to go to for advice. Talk about the blind leading the blind.

Dude, randomly chatting women up on the streets works. I (and some of the other ladies I know, so it's not just me being strange) am actually more comfortable having a conversation in, say, a bookstore or GameStop or something, rather than a bar. Of course, all my experiences with men chatting me up in bars tends to either end or begin (and promptly end) with them stating "nice tits." Such enlightening conversation. Hell, being randomly approached on the street at least lessens the likelihood of drunken fumblings at my chest.

OT: Suddenly, my one date with an annoying braggart seems much less irritating. Yeah, he talked himself up about things he obviously had no knowledge of (e.g. - "Oh yeah, I'm such a nerd. I love video games. Wait... Legend of Zelda is... nah, I've never really heard of it. What do I play? Oh, Call of Duty. Wait, you play RPGs? Like the gun?" among other, less funny strands of conversation), but hell, at least he didn't pretend to sell sex toys to minors and thus think it was something to be proud of. I mean, really. As entrepreneurial spirit goes, you'd think you could come up with something better than "sex toy smuggler."

 

[Spider RedNight]

That happened to me, once; some guy who was ten years older than me talked for about half an hour about how he was apparently the world's unluckiest man and how he was supposed to be a multi-millionaire with a presidential limo and how he was a writer and sold music to Juliard (or what have you, I zoned out after while) and I was just nodding the whole time thinking "Uh-huh. Suuuuuuure"

I mean, I don't mind listening, I really don't. It's just... there's a line between enthusiasm and lying, pretentious pride and angsting. Suffice it to say.... I'm not really a big fan of dating ANYWAY, but I can really pick 'em when I'm not trying to -sarcasm mode-

 

[Beat14]

Now, earlier I was just thinking to myself that sometimes I get a little lost in conversation and exaggerate a little. But fucking hell, that was at first funny to read but then became utterly depressing.

That's all I have to say cause I'm off to bed now. Did I mention my bed sheets are made from silk woven by the blind monks located in one of the far out corners of the world. Which rest upon a hovering bed... In my spaceship... currently cruising past a beautiful nebula...

 

[Vale]

What is this "date" thing people keep referring to anyway

 

[Loop Stricken]

So Escapist, have you ever been on a date

No.

To be fair, everyone who takes just one psychology course assumes that. xD

I haven't taken ANY classes and naturally assume this. I have a brain, ergo I have a psychology, ergo I know the score.

 

[Yopaz]

That date sounded like hell. I am impressed that you managed to keep going

Honestly speaking I don't go on dates due to my looks, my self esteem and my social skills, but if I were to ever go on a date I am more likely to be the one described in this thread than the one describing it.

 

[wulf3n]

-Professional bowler (This was proven false when I suggested bowling, and I'm terrible mind you)

As someone who was a... well not professional, but I did compete in state level competition, this does get thrown around from time to time.

It's usually the result of a few things:

- You don't have access to your own equipment.
- The lanes aren't oiled for competitive play and often aren't oiled at all, just dragged which only spread the remaining oil.
- No one wants to be "that guy" [or girl], you know the one that takes a friendly game way to seriously. Who rocks up with 5 balls and takes 5 minutes before each shot powdering their hands in preparation.

There are other facts e.g. the condition of the approach, lighting etc, but that depends on the persons own style.

Not saying this guy wasn't full of it, just don't expect every "professional" bowler to be great in friendly matches.

 

[Total LOLige]

I'm what one would call a date virgin so I don't have any of those stories, I couldn't be a bragger anyway as I have nothing to brag about haha. I have a friend that is a super bragger basically Barney from HIMYM without the sexual expertise, the story of his "almost threesome" was an epic.

 

[masticina]

My dating list is a clear pallet of nothing. So little stories to tell,
but wow that guy must be allot of fun to be around. Doesn't even seems to know who or what he is, now isn't that funny. Or maybe trying to make himself interesting by all those stories. Well he was 20 right so.. so much to learn still at such age.

Dating ain't easy and sometimes you end up with deliciously odd ones at the other side of the table.

Of course you need a knack of liking to understanding human behavior to enjoy such. Well sounds like you had an awesome date. At least you can laugh and isn't that something. You didn't even date a clown yet, ooh that would be ironic.

 

[Loop Stricken]

I used to like bars but now I realise the only thing I have in common with any girl I meet their is drinking and preferring not to go home alone. Not the basis for a healthy relationship. I think I'm growing as a person.

I've known this since before I was legal. Hence, foreveralone.

 

[Psycomantis777]

Let me think... There was one where he said he once went out with a girl with no gag reflex (ifyouknowwhatImean.

This one time, I was at a bar with a female friend, (just a friend), and at some point, I forget why, I forced my fingers as far as I could down her throat and her reaction was "huat huash zhat fow?"
I'm hoping it wasn't her, I try to keep her away from crazy people and compulsive liars...

 

[PBMcNair]

I have a bad habit of filling awkward silences with talk

Things aren't much better on the other end of the spectrum. Outside of the aftermaths of some disagreements with friends, I can't remember being in what I would consider an awkward silence. Others have found it awkward, and my continued silence weird, but I'm perfectly content to sit for hours without speaking.
Makes meeting people tricky.

 

[LiberalSquirrel]

Odds are, out in a game shop or book store implies at least some commonality, some kind of jumping off point for a conversation. I used to like bars but now I realise the only thing I have in common with any girl I meet their is drinking and preferring not to go home alone. Not the basis for a healthy relationship. I think I'm growing as a person.

That's fair, I suppose. Call me an optimist, though (or just someone who has experienced strange conversations evolving from fairly innocuous topics) but I'm a firm believer in "you never know when you may have something in common with someone." For every "You're trying to read more comics? Right..." encounter I've had, I've had at least one that ended in a spontaneous Doctor Horrible karaoke session.

But hey, I was an English major. Far be it from me to deny character growth.

 

[Lonewolfm16]

Awww, it's threads like this that remind me, even the people with something enviable (having been on dates, in this case.) have stuff that sucks... like terrible dates. We are all human, and thus all have moderately sucky lives sometimes. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, to combat the cold loneliness. Faux cynicism aside, I don't get why people lie on dates. Lets face it, if things go well your lies are likely to be found out. Just present yourself as the person you are, because if that isn't good enough you are going to need to keep the facade up for a very very long time.

 

[Fox12]

Holy cow. I can't say I've ever dated anyone like that, but I did have a friend who was similar to that in high school. He was always bragging about how great he was at stuff, or claiming to know so much about a subject. It was funny when he would start talking about something I was actually knowledgeable about, because I realized he didn't actually know much about anything at all. The sad part was that he really seemed to believe he knew all these things, and he could never admit he was wrong. He was the kind of guy who believed Obama was a secret Muslim terrorist.

He only had one relationship I can think of, and to my surprise the girl was actually incredibly attractive. She broke up with him after he tried to make out with her in his moms car... while his mom sat and watched in the front seat. With a video camera.

Needless to say, we didn't remain friends very long. I know I'm making fun of the guy, but he was a massive jerk to everyone around him, so don't feel too bad. Every bad thing that ever happened to him was his own fault. He was definitely one of the stranger individuals I've met.

 

[Bomberman4000]

I've been on a date where the girl was trying to impress me in much the same fashion in the original post. She told me about all of these skills she had and talents that were "unrecognized by the masses" (I'll never forget that line.)


I then caught her off guard by asking her (more like, "rudely interrupted her" now that I think back) what she's bad at. What was she insecure about? What were her fears? That conversation was less lengthy because people are generally less willing to confess such things so early, but I felt like in those moments I got to know the real her. She then told me she wanted to impress me because she saw a show I did one time (college theater) and thought I had all these remarkable talents. It was fun to demonstrate just how wrong she was on some of them (she assumed I was a good artist and I can't draw for shit). We then started finding things we were both good at and enjoyed, and actually created about an 18 month relationship out of it. One of the best relationships I've ever had.

People always have their guard up on dates early on, especially first dates. I think people would rather talk too much and too extravagantly than run the risk of being remembered as boring. Boring is the worst.

 

[WhyWasThat]

Awww, it's threads like this that remind me, even the people with something enviable (having been on dates, in this case.) have stuff that sucks... like terrible dates. We are all human, and thus all have moderately sucky lives sometimes. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, to combat the cold loneliness. Faux cynicism aside, I don't get why people lie on dates. Lets face it, if things go well your lies are likely to be found out. Just present yourself as the person you are, because if that isn't good enough you are going to need to keep the facade up for a very very long time.

Hey! We're in the same boat, you and I! A boat of loneliness, perpetually lost at sea...

Nah, seriously though I've been on nary a date in my life too.