Life

When Is It OK to Walk Out on a Date?

Sep. 4, 2014

Artem/Fotolia

Is it ever OK to walk out on a date? Generally I’m not a proponent of agreeing to go out with someone, then leaving them high and dry (I think it’s incredibly rude) — but even I will admit that sometimes, yes, it is A-OK to walk out on that nightmare of a person you ended up awkwardly sitting across from. Because yikes. Just… yikes.

A substantial number of these cases have been documented over the past day or so on — what else? — an AskReddit thread. With an initial title of, “Reddit, have you ever walked out on someone in the middle of a date? If yes, why?”, the thread’s goal wasn’t necessarily to create a rulebook of times it’s acceptable to leave without warning; however, so many of the answers ended up being “WTF?!” situations that that’s effectively what it did. Let it be known that I am extremely thankful I have never had a date as bad as any of these ones.

If you ever need to excuse yourself from a horrid date, I’d usually recommend going right out and saying, “Look, I’m just not feeling this, so let’s cap it there” before settling the bill and departing; in some cases, though, it’s way more important to GTFO. Use your judgment — politeness is appreciated, but your safety is always more important.

Have you ever walked out on a date? Tell us about it on Facebook or Twitter!

1. When Your Date Tells You S/He’ll Only Go Out With You If You Pretend to Be Someone You’re Not

I would love to know what was going through this guy’s head during that whole process. On what planet does it sound like a good idea to ask someone you just met to do that?

2. When Your Date Tells You Your Perfectly Acceptable Date Attire Isn’t Good Enough for Him or Her

Repeat after me: “I do not dictate other people’s choices.”

3. When Your Date Tells You to Lose Weight

Not OK.

4. Unwanted and Inappropriate Touching

And:

…I do not have words.

5. When You Find Out You’re “The Other Man/Woman”

Thanks for telling me you were making me your cheating partner, cheater.

6. Racism

I didn’t screen cap these ones because the language dates used is incredibly offensive; if you want to see them, though, here you go. And here, too. And also here. Among others. To which I can say only this:

7. Prejudice

What do you say to that? “I’m sorry my chronic medical condition offended you?”

8. When Your Date Is Awful to the Wait Staff

If you want to know what kind of person your date really is, pay attention to how he or she treats a restaurant’s wait Staff, bar tenders, and so on. S/He might be perfectly charming to you, but if s/he’s awful to everyone else, feel free to excuse yourself and leave.