I have a date tonight with a woman I’m really excited about. We’re going to Topgolf, which seemed like a straightforward plan until I remembered that I have a corporate membership through work. Now I’ve managed to make an hour of golf administratively complicated.
The membership gets me free golf for an hour, plus discounts on food and drinks. Using it would save about $70. I can afford to pay the extra money. I would also enjoy continuing to have it.
What I can’t decide is how that looks on a first date. If she notices that the golf is free and the drinks are discounted, does it register as a perfectly ordinary perk? Or does the evening suddenly look less like a date I planned and more like an employee benefit I’ve brought a guest to?
I’m 36 and new to dating after a relationship and marriage that lasted about 20 years. She’s in her early 30s. I’m finding that returning to dating involves questions I apparently missed the first time around, including the romantic implications of preferred corporate pricing.
I know the obvious response: would I really want to date someone who cared that I used a discount? It’s a fair question. I’m just not sure it covers the strange little territory of a first impression, when neither person has much context for the other.
Once you know someone, saving money can be an uncomplicated shared pleasure. On a first date, I’m wondering whether it might accidentally say something about my effort or enthusiasm. I’m excited about her, and I’d like that to come across without requiring a brief presentation on the membership’s value.
There’s no outcome yet. The date is tonight, and I’m still deciding whether to use the perk. If you were meeting someone for the first time and his work membership covered the golf, would you think anything of it? Or have I simply found a way to spend $70 before anyone has even swung a club?
