BEST QUESTION FOR FIRST DATE

The latest Newsweek (February 7, 2011) has an interesting one page item by Ian Yarett called, "What's the Best Question to Ask on a first Date?" Now it has been many, many years since I have had to be concerned about this matter, but I thought it looked like fun so here goes. You want a question that is less personnel and more informative. The goal is to find out if you both agree on the answer whether you both feel no or yes.

Of the five best questions listed, there was one that really caught my eye. It was not rated the very best question but one of the five. So here goes, "Do you prefer simplicity or complexity?" I just had to laugh. I can imagine the sweet young thing saying, "Huh!" and probably the same response if the sweet young thing asked it of me. I'll bet you have to repeat the question. Although my wife and I are hardly on a first date, we both decided we like simplicity, you know, the KISS principal of Keep It Simple Stupid. I wonder if there are individuals that prefer complexity. It would make for an interesting conversation.

The article also says that of those that agreed on simplicity or complexity, 70% also agreed on "Which is more offensive: book burning or flag burning" and "Should evolution and creationism be taught side-by-side in public schools?" We agreed on "book burning" but there was more uncertainty on creationism though we both agreed that evolution should be taught in the schools.

What appears to be the best question in that it is the second in being less personal and second in being more informative is, "Would it be fun to chuck it all and go to live on a sailboat?" This isn't for either my wife or me, but I do know at least one couple who would like this. At least they took a sailboat from Vancouver, Canada, to Sydney, Australia, something that wouldn't appeal to both of us. There were 67% of the couples that agreed on this that also agreed on, "Would you be comfortable being poor for the rest of your life?" I believe that probably the best condition is one of genteel poverty because the least is asked of you, so my wife and I sort of agreed on this one.

The most informative question and ranked only moderately personal is, "Do you believe in miracles?" Seventy-three percent of the dates that agreed on this also agreed on "Is there a God?", "Do you put more weight on science or faith?" and "Has Christianity made the world better or worse?" There are those who believe these questions are definitive so I can believe they might be asked on a first date, but the last question is certainly a hot one.

There are two other best questions. "Do you like scary movies (least personal and moderately informative) where 74% also agreed on "Is biting sexy" and "Would you like to receive pain during sex?" I found the followup questions got kind of kinky. Lastly "Have you ever traveled alone around a foreign country?" (moderately personal but the third most informative) where 68% of the dates also agreed on "Should the death penalty be abolished," "Can you run a mile without stopping," and "Are you a confident person?" I recall asking a varient of the travel question. As I recall my usual opening question often was, "Do you plan to take any big trips this year?" I'm not sure how the next three followup question relate to the first question, but that's what they say.

I'm sure you are eager to know what the very worst question is. It is, "Are you a virgin?" (very personal and not very informative). Next in line is, "Do you take antidepressants?" (They say this is less personal than the worst question, but I don't know about that.) followed by, now get this, "Do you have an STD." (Interestingly, they say this is more informative that the other two questions.). I can't imaging anyone asking these questions on a first date, but what do I know?

The very least personal question, but ranked only moderately personal, is "Do you brush your teeth?" That is least personal? What is the most personal and most informative question? "Can a racist joke be funny?" followed by "Are you looking for someone to have children with?" Also in this group is "Do you believe in God?" I can believe there are people who would ask this question on a first date to square things away, though I know couples where one believes in God and the other does not, and they seem to get along fine.

Well, this is more than enough of this. Newsweek is getting thinner and thinner, and I have to wonder if it is long for this world, but many articles in this issue were very interesting.