ESSENCE Staffers Share Their Foolish Love Moments

It’s April Fool’s Day and in light of the silly day we hit the office to see who had a few foolish dating moments to share.  From high school hiccups to grown and not-so-sexy slip-ups, the ESSENCE staff had a few funny stories to tell, no joke!

Editor’s Note: Names have been changed to protect the foolish.

When I was in 9th grade I had a huge crush on this guy. We spoke every now and then but I’m pretty sure he didn’t know that I liked him. One day after school, my friend and I waited for him to leave and we went to his locker where I slipped a note inside expressing how I felt about him. I then proceeded to spray my perfume all over his locker, which was my attempt to be romantic.  We thought we were being inconspicuous but as soon as we turned around to leave, guess who was coming down the hall looking right at us? Needless to say, I didn’t get a letter back.—Shawna

Well I certainly wasn’t in love but once while in college I had a huge crush on this guy. I knew his complete class schedule, where he hung out, who he hung out with, I even paid attention to what he ate in the dining hall. It was completely out of character for me. Finally after my roommate couldn’t take anymore of me pining over this dude she asked, “Why don’t you try saying hello?”—Myrtle

Recently I was on a date at a restaurant.  We were having a great time and evidently a very funny conversation.  I was laughing so hard, my head went forward and my hair landed in the candle on the table.  Lo and behold, my hair was on fire!  My date had to help me put out the flames that were blazing on my head. The whole restaurant reeked of burnt hair!—Chaka

When I was in high school, my boyfriend at the time had given me his school jersey. I called him up for our nightly telephone conversation and when I heard “Hello,” I opened with, “Hi sweetie. Guess what I’m wearing to bed,” in my cutest, sexiest voice. Unfortunately, it wasn’t my boyfriend but his older brother who had answered the phone. I couldn’t look big brother in the eye for about a month after that.—Augusta

I was about to go on a date and the guy was picking me up from my mom’s house.  My mom had just planted cactus plants in front of her house.   My date finally arrived and as I was coming out to get into the car, I tripped and landed right into the cacti.  He had to rush me to the hospital to get the spines out of my behind!—Cheyenne

A long time ago when I was 16, I met a guy at the mall who seemed like a great person. After a few telephone conversations I agreed to go out on a date with him. Prior to him picking me up I told him to make sure that he doesn’t blow the horn because my mother wouldn’t appreciate that one bit. She always told me to never let a guy blow his horn for me. She said a real gentleman would come to the door and knock. When 7 P.M. arrived there was no knock on the door. Ten minutes passed and I became worried and looked out the window. There he was sitting in his car with the window down smiling at me. I went outside hopped in the car and was put off that he didn’t get out of the car and open the door for me. After driving for about 20 minutes, he asked me did I want something from the store.  When we pulled up, he leaned in, kissed me and casually jumped out of the driver side window, went in the store, made his purchase and jumped back in the same way he went out. He did this about five times the entire date. I was so embarrassed. I never went out with him again.— Beulah

When I was young and dating, I was extremely shy. I was so shy that I wouldn’t want to talk to this guy I liked whenever he came around. I made my girlfriends pass him my notes so I could talk to him without actually having to talk to him.  What made it so bad is that he entertained my bashfulness and sent me letters back via my friends.  Eventually, we got married.—Flo