Cue the music! *Careless Whisper by Goerge Michael plays in the background* It’s time for a little dating advice from your friendly neighborhood love doctor. 

Ever ask someone on a date but have no idea what you are going to do? Or worse: don’t ask them because you can’t think of a fun activity? Fret no more, this column is your sanctuary. 

In my opinion, a perfect date consists of three things: 1) More than one activity to set the stage for pure joy. 2) Interaction with your date so you can better get to know them. 3) FOOD! 

Now brace yourself for one of the most legendary dates this Earth has to offer: 

Step 1) Take your date to a thrift store and pick out the coolest or weirdest object you can find. (This will come in handy later.) Plus, it’s just fun to mess around and find random things in a thrift store, cuz why not?

Step 2) Conveniently have a bag of skittles with you as you make your way to a local bowling center. Here you will make a list of ways to bowl the ball. Don’t make the list longer than the number of colors in the skittles bag because you will use the skittles to determine how you will bowl each turn. For example, if I reach in and pick a yellow, this could mean I have to bowl with my non-dominant hand. Or let’s say a red: this might mean I must bowl with my eyes closed.

Step 3) Once you are both done laughing with each other about how goofy you each bowled, throw in a bit of competition. (Girls, most boys love competition, so put up a good fight and tease him a bit if he’s losing.) (Boys, most girls like it if you genuinely try. Don’t just try to give her the win because it may surprise you that her skill outmatches yours at this, especially in skittle bowling.) After the game, the winner should be complimented and receive a prize! 

“But Cale,” you might be thinking, “what the heck is the prize supposed to be? I didn’t know this was coming. I wasn’t ready for this.” THINK AGAIN! That’s why you happened to stop by a thrift store! You may think that this is unnecessary, but it might be fun for you or your date to take something home to remember your awesomeness!

Step 4) After a friendly argument about who was more adaptive to skittle bowling, make your way back home. Here, you will take your competitive skill to a further level. A great British (or in this case, American) bake-off never hurt anybody! Gather some ingredients and compete friendly against each other with your cooking abilities. Bake or make something that a judge can’t say no to (desserts are the best, by the way). The judges can be you and your date, which is risky due to biases, but worth it because you get to eat food. 

Step 5) (Optional) Some may say that not many first dates go well if a movie is involved. From personal experience, I beg to differ and would thoroughly argue against that opinion. I think movies are great and could be a good end to this already amazing date. If you’re feeling like it, throw a movie in after you eat dessert and this will raise the chance that you may get to hold their hand! *“Careless Whisper” plays even louder now*

So there you have it, in five simple steps, who knows, you might have scored yourself a future partner. Thrift-inspired Skittle bowling with a great British bake-off and movie finale just might take the cake as the best date you’ve ever been on. 

Next time you see a cute boy or girl, go ask them on a date. Feel free to claim this idea as your own, so you look more charming when you have a game plan. Or tell them Cale sent you!