Memory Monday: Reuben (Knuckle) Sandwich

When I think of the worst dates that I've been on, this one is probably the worst one.  Well, maybe not the worst one, but definitely in the top 5.  I was a junior in college, so fall of 1999.

There was a guy in my ward in college named Reuben.  I called him Ruby, I think mostly to bug him.  Nice guy and all.  He lived with about 8 guys in a house that they had dubbed the "cinna-batch".  I have no idea why they called their house that, but whatever.

So Reuben asked me on a date for a Friday night, which I gladly accepted, because he was a really nice guy, right?  Um, yeah.  Right.  I mean, he is.  But just not on this date.

He picked me up, and when we got to the car, he said, "You can get your own door, right?"  1st wrong step of the night.  I was like, "Uh, yeah, I guess."  For dinner, he took me to a stake barbecue.  We got there late, so there were slim pickings on the food.  Come to think of it, I don't even think it was our stake-I think he just heard about it from who-knows-who, and decided, hey! free food!  2nd wrong step of the night-free food for a date?  Not that I expected a super fancy expensive meal for dinner, but dinner together would have been nice instead of with 100 other starving college students.

Going back to the car (and every time we got in or out of the car that night), Reuben again said, "You can get your own door, right?"  One of the times I replied, "Um, no, I can't.  Would you please get it for me?"  Which he grudgingly did that time, but dude.  It ticked me off.

We went back to his apartment, and we watched "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".  And I totally kept falling asleep.  Reuben was in love with that movie, and so of course he owned it.  (Free movie.  Hm.)  And it was fine to sit and watch, but when he was reciting every line along with the movie, it got a little old.

Right before the movie, we went to the store and got some dessert/snacks to munch on during the movie.  I'm remembering ice cream, which I think I might have gotten one little scoop out of before he hoarded it away in his freezer.

Then we went to an Institute dance, where there was a band that was playing Beatles songs.  I thought maybe the date would improve at the dance, because I love the Beatles, but I was wrong.  So we were hanging out and dancing and stuff, and then he decided to start chatting up some random chick.  I went and called my roommates, and begged them to come to the dance and crash my date, essentially.  So my date with Reuben became a date with Reuben, Random Chick that he was flirting with, and my two roommates. 

Eventually, it was time to leave, so we left...and walked Random Chick home.  She didn't live that far away, but dude!  WE WERE ON A DATE!!!  We got back to the car, and he had the decency to walk me to my door after the date, which was the first gentlemanly thing he had done all night.  I might have given him a high five (no way was I going to hug him-I think I would have strangled him if I had gotten that close), because by then I had HAD it.

I walked in the door, and was like "WORST DATE EVER!!!" to my roommates.  They all agreed.

Reuben ended up asking Random Chick to Homecoming.  And we stayed friends, but there was no way I would have ever gone on a date with him again.  Though apparently, he felt the same about me, but before our date even started.

(I just looked to see if I had a picture of Reuben in my scrapbook.  That would be a big fat no.)