Celebrating Our Decade
He had a Groupon deal for a burger joint in town. I love burgers. Bacon cheeseburgers are my favorite food. He asked if that was ok. He had originally wanted something a little “fancier” for our tenth anniversary date, but he knows how much I love burgers, and how much I love a good deal. I was thrilled.
We drove into the lot and at first, we thought the place was closed. There was a single black car parked out back and no life in sight. We went inside and quickly realized why they were selling such awesome deals on Groupon. The place was dead. As in, doorknobs.
The guy behind the counter seemed genuinely excited to be serving a customer. I wonder how long it had been…? He was a tall, good-looking black kid with an exceptional attitude. The kind of attitude not often found in fast food places. We liked him instantly.
My husband asked me at least four times if I wanted to go find something nicer. I didn't. Something about the place drew me in. I love it! We ordered our food and went to pick out a table in the vacant dining area. The floors were sticky, the mustard yellow wall paint was chipping and the décor on the walls was crooked and sparse. We found a green, vinyl U-shaped booth and sat down. I put my feet up on the seat and was able to somewhat recline as we waited for our food.
The kid brought it to us with a smile like no other and ordered us to “enjoy”. We did enjoy. The burgers were amazing! The bacon was perfect and crispy, which seems to be a hard task for most fast food workers to accomplish. The fries were hot and deliciously seasoned and the sweet tea was southern-girl-approved. It was a win. The fact that we had the entire place to ourselves was just awesome in my book. Some people pay ridiculous amounts of money to buy out a restaurant for a romantic evening and we got ours for a 50% off Groupon deal!
I absolutely loved it. The sticky, green carpet, red vinyl chairs and empty space on the wall (with dirt showing exactly where a piece of art had previously been hanging) only added to the charm of this place for me. As we left, we thanked the young man for his excellent service and he told us to come back soon. Just not on Wednesdays. He doesn’t work on Wednesdays.
We had planned to see a movie after dinner but changed our minds. We are apparently getting old (or have four kids who don’t let us sleep through the night on a consistent basis) and we knew we wouldn’t be able to stay awake for a show. The rest of our evening was spent wandering around discount shops and a used bookstore and it couldn’t have been more perfect. My coffee-hating husband even offered to finish the date at a coffee shop to buy me a drink. I declined, but that offer alone was enough to make the evening memorable!
I’m being completely honest here in saying that it was one of my favorite dates ever. If we had gone to a fancier place I can guarantee I wouldn’t have had such a great time. There would have been other people there. It would probably have been louder, making it more difficult to have a good conversation with my husband. I would be cringing at the fact that I could have fed the entire family for at least 4 days for the cost of one meal. It just wouldn’t have been the same. It would have been what was “expected” for a tenth anniversary date, but it wouldn’t have been what I wanted.
Men, make sure you know your audience when planning evenings out. Find out what she really enjoys. Don’t just assume. Not all of us like giant diamonds, or 4-Star restaurants. Some of us would genuinely prefer a quiet, dirty restaurant and a delicious cheeseburger. Some of us would rather browse the shelves of a used bookstore than take a carriage ride downtown. Some of us would be MUCH happier with a Pandora music subscription and a box of ammo than a piece of expensive Pandora jewelry.
Don’t think about what other couples do, or what would be the “expected” outing. Find out what she loves and run with it!
I couldn’t have planned this anniversary any better. This guy just gets me.
Ten years and counting….