Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
Let’s be honest. All of us, whether we want to admit it or not, have been on bad dates. Or maybe even really bad ones, the kind of date we wouldn’t wish on our enemies.
These 3 stories from Tinder users tell us about the pitfalls they experienced on their quest for love – from the bad, the really bad, and the kind of date that makes you question your life choices.
1. He couldn’t get off his phone.
We swiped right on Tinder and agreed to meet up for coffee. He was texting on his phone when I got there. I introduced myself and he didn’t even look up – he just continued texting while he thrust his other hand out in my direction.
I asked him several polite first date questions to get to know him a little bit. But I got very short and disinterested replies. I figured I’d give him a few minutes to sort things out. So, I asked what he’d like to drink and he literally gave a huff and barked his order at me.
I was already pretty unimpressed, but I was willing to give him a chance. I mean, something important could be going on, someone could be in trouble or something.
Unfortunately, I was going to be proven wrong.
I took about 5 minutes to get our drinks, and when I returned to see him still on his phone, I finally asked if everything was okay. He responded curtly with “my friends are my highest priority” and then promptly turned his attention back to the phone.
I spent maybe another 10 minutes trying to have a one-sided conversation with this guy and then just thought “screw this, I’m out!” I got up, said goodbye, and left without another word.
That was the shortest date I’ve ever been on, outside of a speed dating thing I tried once before.
About a week later, I hit up the same coffee place. The barista remembered me and filled me in with what I’d missed. Apparently, he’d spent another 15 minutes glued to his phone before standing up and walking out, leaving his drink untouched.
I have no idea what his story was, but I like to tell myself that I got a lifetime of bad dates done on that one.
2. She forgot that we already met and complained about our real first date.
I make it a point to never do anything too expensive on a first date, especially nowadays. Times are tough for everyone.
I always make sure we meet for coffee first just so we can talk and see if we “connect”. Then it’s about finding something we can do together, like going to an art exhibition or a museum, or even catching some live music at a bar.
So for this one girl, we met and we chatted first. Discovering that there was something there, we agreed to go for mini golf and after that, we shared an ice cream while chatting some more.
I thought it was a pretty good date, and I looked forward to seeing her again.
Three weeks later…
Work got in the way for both of us, and it was almost three weeks before I had the free time to get in touch with her again, to discuss a second date.
We made plans to have dinner and then watch Shang Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings. We met at the restaurant, got seated, and ordered our food.
Then she started talking about a date she had a few weeks prior, and how the “last guy” she dated took her to some stupid mini-golf place and was too cheap to pay for a meal and had cheapened out by taking her for ice cream.
I smiled, excused myself from the table, paid for my share of the meal, and left. I blocked her and I hope I never ever see her again.
3. I met her family on our first date.
I met a girl online and everything seemed okay with our text conversations so we agreed to meet for coffee and dinner after.
I showed up at the coffeehouse about 30 minutes early. I grabbed my coffee and was doing some last-minute emailing on my laptop when I noticed an older guy staring at me intently.
It was unnerving, but I got through my work. Then I checked the time and realized that the girl was already a few minutes late. No big deal, I just messaged her that I’m already at the coffeehouse. A few minutes later, the older guy I noticed earlier came back in and sat down again.
He kept staring at me.
I messaged my date and met her outside. I explained that there was this older guy inside who was giving me the creeps, and suggested that we go somewhere else to avoid any potential problems. She asked me about it, and I described him to her.
She knew him: he was her father.
He was doing advanced reconnaissance on dates for his 26-year-old daughter. This was unexpected, and I found it a little creepy, but she messaged him and he left. She apologized saying that being an only child has its downsides, and I accepted her explanation.
We grabbed a coffee, chatted, and things were going alright. Noticing the time, I suggested making a move to the restaurant. She asked if we could detour home so she could get a jacket and then asked if I would like to meet her cats.
Who says no to cats?
Obviously, she still lived with her parents. I had to talk to them while she grabbed a jacket. While she was introducing me to their cats, her parents were nearby the entire time, listening in on our conversation.
The whole thing was so uncomfortable, but she didn’t seem to want to leave. I tried to say something about how we’d lose our reservation and her parents suddenly jumped in, interrupting me.
Next thing I know, they were asking us to have dinner together at their house. With them.
I declined politely but they were insistent. I straight out asked, “Is this how her dates normally go?”
“No. we don’t normally let her go out, but we think you are okay because your messages were nice and we think that you want to have dinner with us.”
That reply left me absolutely speechless. It was already bad enough to have her father scoping me out for her and to be meeting her family on the first date – but now I found out that they also read my messages to her!
I told them that this would not work for me and I left as quickly as I could.
Afterwards, she blew up my phone with calls and messages, telling me that I was “better than this.” I blocked her.
Then I started getting messages from first her mother, then her father. I blocked them too.
Nobody wants to meet the family on the first date!
We’ve all had bad first dates
No matter how bad your date goes, at least you have the knowledge that there are people out there dealing with awful first dates too. Ever since the use of dating apps became more popular, people have been exposed to strangers that they wouldn’t have met otherwise, which results in some really strange stories.
Here’s to hoping that every bad date is a pointer in the direction of a great date and even greater relationship – even if you have to stay celibate for a while.
For more stories like this, read: Don’t Make These Mistakes On Your First Date, Weird Online Dating Encounters and I Had A Series Of Wild Tinder Dates.
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