Paying too much attention to the script

First dates run on predictable tracks: where are you from, what do you do, any siblings, how long have you been in the city. These beats exist because they establish basic orientation and create a conversational foundation. The problem is when people stay on the track so long that the date becomes a recitation rather than an encounter. Both people have had the same conversation before. Both know approximately where it's going. Nobody is surprised. The best dates start on script and then break it — a tangent that takes an unexpected turn, a question that nobody asks on first dates, an honest opinion that surprises both people. The moment the date stops following its predictable arc is usually the moment something real starts happening. Watch for the opportunity to swerve. The stories that people tell again and again are rarely the ones where everything went according to plan.