How to Enjoy Friends and Dates in One Summer Day
Solving a Summer Dilemma
@stevie_jadeeSummer dates are spontaneous and unexpected. Sometimes the rulebook gets tossed out of the window. A regular day in the life becomes a perfect mid-summer dream. It’s a part of the summer fling feeling, even when you don’t see the person again.
Dates come when we least expect it when we are busy doing something else. People tell us to never move our current plans for a date, but there may be an exception to the rule. If we are with the right people and on the right side of the seasons. A Friday summer night with your friends can turn into a rendezvous with a potential lover. Plans fold into other plans and fold back into themselves again.
As friends, it’s our duty to help our friends ebb and flow when there’s a possibilities of a summer fling. We shouldn’t cancel plans with our friends left and right, but there’s a way to play Connect Four and win every time.
My friends and I were together for a Friday late afternoon at the Met. Taking full advantage of our summer Fridays beading sweat off our skin and taking to the ice-cold museum walls. As we analyzed a Van Gogh piece, which looked like the flower dog from Alice and Wonderland, in the same state I assume Lewis Carroll was in when he wrote it, my friend received a text from a potential lover who was finishing work just around the corner.
Initially, one would think to say they were busy, but we weren’t. We see each other too many times a week to care. What’s a friend if you can’t live vicariously through them? After finishing our museum trip, we went to Central Park to prepare for the handoff. We watched as she nervously picked up the phone to coordinate a meeting spot. We lingered with her as we waited for his arrival. And the best part… heading back into the bushes across the Stuart Little Pond to watch her greet her summer lover.
There was no skin off our backs as the two remaining wandered to find food blissfully full of pride, knowing our friend was enjoying a man’s company in a New York summer sunset. The night was full of possibilities thanks to the light city breeze. There was no way we would have stopped her from finding the romance in it all.
The two of us found our own romance with dumplings. Hours passed by until we found ourselves reunited with our friend again. Her summer knight mounted his Citi Bike in haste back to Williamsburg before the sun fell asleep. (The date was great btw, just one that had to end early). But the sadness was short-lived as she followed FindMyFriends back to us. The three musketeers rejoiced as we plopped ourselves at a bar, inspecting the fresh date, fueling our friend after her make-out with leftover dumplings and beer.
It was ten days merged into one. The formula for a perfect New York summer night. One that couldn’t be so without the support of a friend group. Fresh romantic relationships sometimes push friendships to the back. We must consciously foster all our relationships and show support for the other relationships our friends may form. Practicing this type of balance is not something that has to wait until a serious romantic relationship comes along. We can practice it with any level of dating. Leaving friends to go on a date doesn’t have to be negative. It is an opportunity to create a narrative that works within our own lives. Merging worlds together to create one that brings us the most joy. Sending your friend off on a date is a core memory. A proud moment as you watch your friend smile at the sight of something new.
No animosity, no jealousy. Friends being there for friends from beginning to end.
Summer has no rules. The season moves us quickly in multiple directions as we hold on to dear life with sweaty palms. Summer flings don’t have to be planned. They can become entwined with plans already made, allowing us to make those unplanned memories. With friends and with summer lovers.
Our friend night of rendezvous didn’t end there…. I took my turn for a summer fling, rekindling an old summer flame. But that’s a story for another week…
Just tell your friends to go on that date!!
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