THE DATING GAMES…

OUUFFF … How do I start ???

First of all, I am no pro since I never really went on a date until I was 25. No, the secret meetings after church or school night do not count. 

So as I was saying, no dating until I was 25. Do you find that weird? I’m Haitian so it’s perfectly normal. In Haitian cultures, most parents tend to be pretty strict about dating. Nothing was more important than school, church and home. Yet those same parents expected you to get married and give them some grandchildren the moment you’re done with your studies and find a well paid job…HELLOOOOO, wait a minute now; I do not know how to approach people or flirt yet… Well in my case I’m a flirt, whether it’s voluntary or not, sometimes it just comes out but at least I know my limit… 

Anyway, the dating games… When going on first dates, people usually stress about their attire, others about their hair, how they look and how they will sound. Well in my case, the main two things I worry about are my hands and feet sweating. A 100% of the time that determines how I will dress, how I’ll style my hair and even how nervous I’ll be. The worst part is that if I don’t sweat , I get nervous about that as well.  

  WHY? I CANNOT just wear any shoes because they look good; I have to make sure I wear something that will not slip out once my feet start sweating and become uncomfortable to walk with. Therefore, I always ended up wearing open-toe wedged heels on good days (good days = when it’s not super humid, so I sweat less) or I just wear some classy ankle boots, the absolute best. Then comes the time where you have to meet the person and shake their hands; a lot of people are disgusted about the fact that one’s hands sweat so much. I always have to warn people or apologize before I give them a handshake and let them know that my hands sweat. Although they try to play it cool most of the time, I can catch them feeling a tad uneasy when we shake hands. ”What a great first impression you make, Harry!”, I think to myself. It SUCKS that I feel like I should apologize for something I cannot control because that makes me feel uneasy and I start getting nervous, and the more nervous I get, the more the river flows from both my hands and feet and then the more distracted I become. I’m thinking ” I’m sweating too much, I need to calm down, breathe, cool off”… I hesitate a lot before I shake hands with anyone I’m meeting for the first time. As for my hair, I’m glad I shaved it all off now so I don’t have to worry about the amount of time it takes to style and unfortunately there aren’t any hair salons in my area that can style my Afro crown. 

  It sure is a lot of mental preparation but you know what, if I don’t go out there and meet people, then I’m missing out. As annoying as hyperhidrosis might be, I cannot let it stop me from living now can I? There are much worse things in life than sweaty hands and feet you know, like racism and ignorance… but that’s enough storytelling for today about my dating life, more details on that for another time. 

Right now, I’m a little hungry. 

It’s snack time, I’ll be back …..

Until then, BE KIND!

HarryElle