Tuesday 14 August 2007

And to that I say...COBBLERS!!!

So recently I’ve heard a lot of chit chat about this NY Times article which talks about the increasing number of women who order meat as a “strategy” on a first date to impress a man.

What is wrong with these people?

I can understand that there are certain foods to be avoided on the first few dates…Spaghetti Bolognese for obvious reasons – in fact I’d err on the side of caution and avoid anything in the long stringed noodle family entirely. I’ll also concede that it’s probably sensible to avoid garlicky foods, and sushi rolls are not the best, because a) your breath will stink of fish and b) you’ve little choice but to pop those suckers in whole and there’s just no way of looking attractive while chowing down on a sushi roll unless your mouth is the size of Carly Simon’s.

…But choosing to eat steak as a STRATEGY for snaring a man!!!


Purleaze!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm guessing these are the same women who bought "The Rules."

Sadly there are men who are apparently suckered. Francesca confessed to reading the wedding pages of the Sunday Times this past weekend – Why oh why? I’d have to be really bored to resort to the wedding pages. Francesca and I may have to have words – and she mentioned a guy who said he was impressed by his new wife when she ordered steak on their first date. He claimed it showed she was adventurous.

Steak = Adventurous!! Uh huh!! Right!!

If this numpty thinks adventurousness is encapsulated by the ordering of a steak then thank God he’s spoken for. Sorry folks, but ordering steak doesn’t say adventure to me, it says you eat meat and potatoes. My Irish ancestors have been doing for years. I’ll tell you what says gastronomic adventure to me….ordering the sheep brains. Now THAT’S adventurous. Of course I may not want to snog you after dinner, but hell I’ll be assured of your pluck!!

.....And the Times PAYS people to write this nonsense??? Tiresome!! Seriously someone at the Times could do to read Witty Writer Gal’s
post on common sense. I think someone there might be in need of some. Sigh!!

17 comments:

Amel said...

EHHHH??? Weird indeed. You're SO right. What's so adventurous about eating steak?

They should write down exotic food like cow's brain, chicken feet, grasshopper, frogs, cow's intestines, snails...now that's what I call adventurous!!!

But I still don't get why some men were impressed by that?!?!?!

Btw, when my hubby came to Indo last year to marry me, I had told him that my Mom'd cook frogs for him. He said to me that he wouldn't kiss me if I had just eaten frogs, 'coz he sure wouldn't eat frogs. But hey...one day I gave him the frogs my Mom had cooked (he couldn't say no as he was staying at our house and I told him my Mom would be pissed if he didn't eat it HI HI HI)...so he did...and he LIKED them!!!!! YYYEEESSS!!! ;-D

Ahem, enough babbling. *grin*

fishwithoutbicycle said...

Hey Amel, they can be peculiar in New York :-)

That's a cute story about your husband and the frogs.

In NY there are apparently droves of women who eat before they go out on a dinner date so that they eat lightly on the date and appear dainty. I don't know any of these women and I also don't understand their logic. Eventually the guy is going to find out that you subsist on more than salad and if he has a problem with that, why would you want to be with him. I wish people would just act normal instead of all this strategizing.

Amel said...

Oooohhh...so that's why, eh? THX for explaining it to me.

Yeah, better just find someone who likes and loves you for who you are instead of presenting "made-up" images of yourself.

I myself think that if I have a dinner date with a guy, I'd definitely choose anything I'd love to eat just to find out if the guy's stingy or not. Being with a stingy guy isn't so much fun HE HE HE HE...

Lisa Wines said...

But ordering a Ricard (brand name owned by Pernod) or Pastis (drink is sometimes referred to as this) would make him think you were not only manly but quite sophisticated. (may want to find it here: http://www.pastisny.com/home.html).

I have to admit I've never thought, when on a first date, in the offensive mode (what to order) but rather the defensive mode (what to avoid). Anything that leaves oil stains trailing down my chin might be problematic. or things that get stuck in my teeth. Like black sesame seeds.

If a girl wishes to impress, I think a big fat hot dog is always good.

fishwithoutbicycle said...

Hmmm. I may well have a date this weekend - with a cheeky Israeli man I met on Saturday night - and 'manly' and 'sophisticated' is just the sort of impression I like to convey on a date. I shall have to order one :-)

Btw there's a restaurant in NY called Pastis - owned by an English man tho' - and now I know where the name comes from. Thanks Omygod :-)

fishwithoutbicycle said...

Duh. I meant "thanks Omyword"

alcoment said...

I have to say that this is ridiculous. There is nothing adventurous about steak. When I'm on a date I don't order food that I'll throw down my top or that will make my breathe stink, but anything else is fair game, however I won't order something to make an impression. I've also had ex's that would have dumped me if I had sat there nibbling at a salad!

I know some women treat dating as a military operation, but surely the poor bloke only ends up a superficial person, who is the opposite of who they thought they were dating!

Amanda said...

Okay, yeah. Steak's adventurous. Not. Steak is comfort food, like a nice baked potato smothered in every fat molecule on the planet, and maccaroni-and-cheese made with real cheddar... yum!

I'd say ordering steak makes you look like you like steak. Which is, well, what you said :)

On our first date, my husband and I went to Red Lobster (long story, small-ish town, Oklahoma -- you get the picture). I broke the long-noodle rule (ordered the crab fettuccini alfredo).

Probably slobbered a bit, even.

And yet, he married me. WITHOUT steak!

Shocking, I tell ya.

Heather said...

STEAK? That ain't nuthin'.

I say order up a 25 piece bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, a large malt shake and a big mac AND then we can talk. Not about me being adventurous, but about how I ain't afraid to be myself in front of you.

Honestly...steak...

Loquacious Curmudgeon said...

It's amazing what people will do to impress a potential mate. Even more amazing is that any of it actually works.

I grew up around farmers. Steak wasn't exactly a novelty for me, either. Eating it while bobsledding naked maybe, but not just by itself.

Roses said...

Interesting the idea that a man will be impressed by what a woman orders. Maybe American men are more observant, but British men are hard put to remember what you wore, the length of your hair and what kind of wine you prefer (red).

I think if a guy was that interested about what I was eating, he really wouldn't be worth seeing again.

Agnes Mildew said...

I genuinely used to work for a husband and wife family company.

I sat opposite the wife.

She used to eat her own ear wax when deep in thought.

I reckon that is how she snared her husband, as he was an oily little lump of waste deposit, too...

fishwithoutbicycle said...

Thanks for stopping by everyone. I'm glad we are all on the same page.

Seriously I think some people in NY have too much time on their hands to come up with these pea brained notions of what you should and should not eat to make the right impression. I think there's more than a few people over thinking the dating thing in New York, but then I'm single so what do I know.

Loquacious thank you for that image of yourself bobsledding naked which is now seared into my brain :-)

Agnes - earwax!! Shudder!!

Victorya said...

1st date with a cute guy - we go to one of those 'mall restaraunts,' you know, what is an expensive nice place when you are a teen.

He orders steak, I order salad. He asks why - I tell him that I'm vegetarian - he knows this. We've known each other all summer. He says he feels weird eating steak in front of me, I tell him not to worry about it (plus, I gots me some stomach issues)

So the salad was like, five bucks, but the waiter remembered me from school. "oh, I had such a crush on you" he tells me, "YOUR meal is free."

Thus, not only was he feeling uneasy about the salad but another man paid for my meal.

The point is - as he told me later - the guy wants you to feel comfortable to be yourself around them and nothing is more homey than 'steak.' It is a comfort food, and shows your comfort with the guy.

It is not, however, adventurous unless you eat it at someplace on the health dept.s most wanted list - Salmonella, buggies, growth hormones, etc.

Amanda said...

A boyfriend in NYC isn't an impossibility. My sister met a nice guy. Hell, even my brother likes him, and that's saying something :)

This poor man went with my sister and my younger son to the Magic Kindom (Disney World) for said offspring's first visit. Rumor has it all three of them had a blast.

They're out there. Even in New York :)

fishwithoutbicycle said...

Hey Victorya, that's a cute story. I totally get the comfort thing, I think that's what I'm trying to convey in my roundabout way. I think we should eat what we like on dates whether that's salad or steak and stop with the strategizing :-)

Have a good one. F

fishwithoutbicycle said...

Hey Amanda, good for your sister :-) Yup they're are some out there - I may well have a date with one this weekend in fact - but there are 185,000 EXTRA single women in the NY tri-state, so it's good to keep your expectations in check in NY I think :-)