It’s funny because, no matter how old I get, or how many dates I go on, after a really good one I always call my friends afterward to tell them about it. I don’t care how guys are supposed to act after a date, or what is perceived as “playing it cool” because if I go out on a good date, I will call my friends after to talk about it like an excited schoolboy. I mean, as human beings, it is only natural that after we have enjoyable experiences, we feel a strong desire to share them with those closest to us.

Recently, I went out on a third date with a woman that I had met on JDate; on the first two we had gotten along really well and both had a good time. Since we had met for frozen yogurt on our first date, and gone out for sushi on the second, I wanted to do something a little different for our third date. After thinking about our options for a Wednesday night, I asked her if she was game for grabbing dinner at this offbeat pizza place and then going to an Improv club for a show.

She responded that she was “up for anything” and we agreed on a time that I would pick her up on my way back from work. The pizza place was just down the street from the club so we grabbed some macaroni and cheese pizza (delicious), and chicken fettuccini alfredo pizza (yummy), before heading over to the show. The first act was a little a hit or miss with the performance since they were a newer group, but the second team more than made up for it and was absolutely, side-splittingly, hilarious!

After the show we talked for a little bit before I dropped her off and we said goodnight. However, by the time she made it inside her building, I was already dialing a friend to talk about the date. Once we got off the phone I quickly dialed another friend and it was after we hung up that it dawned on me that my wanting to immediately call my friends after a date was a sign that I was excited because it had been really great.

Undoubtedly, other people have different subconscious indicators that tell them they had a fun time. If you don’t know what yours are then I encourage you the next few times you go out on dates to think about what were your immediate natural reactions afterward. Often times, after going out on date after date, we try to fool ourselves into thinking that a date went better than it did. However, it is in these situations when we can rely on our post-date indicator to keep us grounded in reality by telling us the truth about whether or not it truly went well.