So I was inspired by this thread to write a field report about my night last night, even though it's not an amazing victory.

Here's the back story: I've been salsa dancing for three years. I'm heavily involved in the local salsa community. And it really is a community. Every time I go out, I can count on running into a dozen people I know. Plus I can approach just about anyone at a salsa event and we're almost guaranteed to know a few of the same people.

So I met this girl on Match.com. We got together for drinks last week, and it was your standard first date scenario. We sat at the bar exchanging stories about our lives and had a few laughs. Nothing too exciting. No kino. I told her all about the salsa scene. The bar was in her home town. I asked her about different restaurants in the area, and then suggested we bounce over to the mexican place down the street for dinner. She enthusiastically agreed. We had dinner. At the end of the night we exchanged hugs, we didn't even kiss, and she turned down my offer to walk her home. She said we should get together and go dancing some time. I told her I'd pick a date. So far so good.

I waited a few days and then called her up to ask her to go dancing. Important note: always call a girl to ask her on a date. Don't do it via text message. We played phone tag a little bit, but eventually set up a date.

So last night I took her to a salsa event. It was actually a fairly small crowd, because there were three events at three venues that night so the community was spread out. I think this was a good thing, because I don't want to overwhelm her with a big crowd. She's not the type of girl who enjoys night clubs.

There was a free lesson from a good instructor. We both took it and she seemed to enjoy it. She got tired and a little intimidated, and tried to leave the lesson twice, but I kept telling her to stick it out and she did. I think she was a little impressed by my stamina. Of course, I do this three or four times a week so I can pretty much dance all night and never get tired.

After the lesson, the floor opened up for social dancing and the regulars started trickling in. Five or six people I knew recognized me and came over to say hello. One of them was a gorgeous tall HB10 I've known for a while but never hit on because I don't get any vibes from her. I think this is a major DHV, because it demonstrates that I'm well-liked. I got my date out on the floor for a few dances, and she had a good time. I kinoed her at the bar, and went in for the first kiss when we were both a little fired up after a good dance. She was totally into it, but it only lasted for about ten seconds. Obviously she didn't wanna be doing too much in a public setting like that.

At the end of the night there was a performance, and one of the performers was a friend of mine who had previously come up and said hello. Also, I've performed on stage at the venue and we had talked about that. Plenty of good DHV there.

I drove her home and we held hands the whole way, even with me shifting the manual transmission. At first I wasn't sure if she was holding my hand reluctantly or if she was really liking it, but she kept her arm on mine even when I let her go, and she was rubbing my hand with her thumb, so I'm pretty sure she was into it.

I dropped her off at her door. we kissed for about a minute, then I went home. No invite in. No f-close. But that's fine by me. She doesn't strike me as the type of girl who wants to move really fast, and the last thing I want to do is be pushy with teh secks.

So the takeaway from all this is that if you have a hobby, and you have a well-established reputation in a community of people who share that hobby, you can milk that for DHV all night with any girl you want to take out and show it to. I could take a dozen girls on the same date and impress all of them.

TL;DR: Having an active social life before you take a girl out on a date will help you immensely on the date.