First Date Story

I went on a date a few weeks ago.  It was with this guy.  I will highlight the fact again that he was 24 years old. 

The plan was to go swing dancing.  To be fair, I changed the plan at the last minute.  It was 9:00 on a Thursday night and I was hungry and tired and the weather was crummy.  I called to let him know I was home from my earlier plans (not making more than a single plan in a night is a hard lesson for me to learn).  I was really hoping that we could just reschedule.  No such luck.  Being young and in undergrad means that 9:00 on a Thursday is just the start of a night.  We finally settled on him picking me up for dinner. 

He came to the door, rang my doorbell walked me to the car and shut my door for me.  We went to the restaurant and chatted.  I had wine.  He had lemonade. He played up the future doctor angle, being close with his family, the fact that he has a female roommate, his accomplishments in high school and junior league hockey, and his disappointment in not going dancing. 

Then the bill came.  I am usually pretty quick with my wallet, especially on the first date.  I must have been the fastest one at the table because my card was out and picked up by the server before my date even made a move.   I signed the bill when it came back, then my date picks it up to see the total and throws a twenty dollar bill in the middle of the table and said, “here.”  For a future doctor, his math skills were not that great. Twenty did not cover half, if that was his intention.  I said ah no, don’t worry about it, you can keep that. 

If he had put the twenty in along with my card, that would have been ok.  It would have even been kind of ok if he did not attempt to pay at all.  Throwing money on the table was not ok.  It was awkward. 

I have not heard from him since. 

Gentlemen, if you are going out with a lady and plan on either picking up the tab or contributing, do so much earlier in the payment process.