I was sitting at my favorite sushi bar the other night devouring a sunshine roll, while eavesdropping on the couple who was obviously on their first date sitting next to me. The girl admitted to not having ever eaten more than a California roll in her day, so the guy took over and ordered for them. I thought it was quite chivalrous of him until “the show” began. The guy went ahead and ordered the most intricate rolls thinking that he was impressing his date except that he was dealing with a sushi virgin who wasn’t quite prepared for what was placed in front of her. And since he used the technical terms (hamachi, uni, nora, etc) she didn’t have any clue what to expect except that she was already a bit annoyed that he thought such a thing would dazzle her. Let’s just say the spicy tuna was the tamest, least intimidating of the fish. There was squid, octopus and eel and his date was petrified. Rather than think of her and ease her into a new experience, he was more concerned with his image and showing off his knowledge. His date checked out once the rolls started rolling in and she was no longer interested in anything he had to say. He didn’t quite know what happened and couldn’t back pedal or fix it. He effectively ruined the date by trying to be someone he wasn’t.

If a date is impressed by your posturing then what kind of relationship are you building? Wouldn’t you rather impress someone by being yourself?