Guest: Turn-Off of the Day

I was asking Benevolent Blog-Master Lundy what I should write about for my next blog. He gave me a few suggestions, one of which was something to the effect of "hobbies that are a turn-off for you." That one I thought was interesting, because outside of baby seal clubbing, I couldn't really imagine any hobbies that a prospective love-interest would have that would really put me off. Then it hit me what *does* turn me off: having no hobbies.

So, today's To-Do: Being Passionate About Something.

If you want to impress me, don't try to impress me. That said, I'm much more likely to be interested in you if you're interesting, and interested in things. Apathy just does not do it for me. This is very much in the vein of only listening to Top 40 music because you "just like whatever comes on the radio." If we're on a date and I'm asking you about what you're into, don't be vague. Once, years ago, I was getting chatted up by a guy in the hot tub of a public pool. Being an eternally blind optimist I decided to try and make the best of it.

"So what do you do for fun?" I ask.
"I like to party a lot."
"Oh, yeah. That's ... cool. What do you do when you're not partying?"
"I play hockey sometimes."
"That's ... nice. What kind of music are you into?"
"Uh... Nickleback's pretty cool. Whatever's on the radio, I guess."

UGH. At this point I had pretty much written him off as anyone worth my time, but I was too polite (I was young) to run away screaming. As you can see from our conversation excerpt we were not exactly hitting it off, and one would think that he also knew this. For some reason he chose this moment to start rubbing my thigh with his toe (don't forget we were in a hot tub). It was this moment I did run away, to the ladies' sauna.

Now, I'll admit that his playing hockey earned him a few points, but if I remember correctly he had been playing for a local team but had gotten cut for misconduct. So yeah. My point is this, boys and girls: if you want to catch the attention of someone you fancy, "partying" does not count as a hobby. If you get the point where they ask you The Hobby Question it means they're at least slightly interested in you, so be honest. Tell them about the Scooby-Doo memorabilia that you love collecting, or how you just can't get enough of Miles Davis. A truly cool person will not laugh, and will instead admire you for having passion about something.

The only exception for this rule is if your favourite band is Nickleback, and you're on a date with me. At this point you should probably just keep your mouth shut.