One woman’s simple tip on how to avoid a dating disaster has some online users buzzing about the pros and cons of leaving a date early.
TikTok creator Fae (@acidfairy_) shared a video on Tuesday about how she easily escaped a date she decided was no longer worth her time. As of Wednesday, the video was viewed more than 800,000 times and received more than 100,000 likes.
“In telling this story to my friends, it’s become very apparent to me that not a lot of women realize if you don’t want to be somewhere, you can just leave,” Fae said in the beginning of her video.
She then told the story of a date she went on recently at a coffee shop. She had met the man at 7:40pm and by 8:12pm “was back in my own apartment, texting my friends.”
Right off the bat, Fae said she could tell that the guy was shy and awkward, which didn’t exactly align with her straightforward style. During a conversation about traveling, Fae brought up how she had trips planned in 2020 that were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And he was like, ‘Ok but some of us lost our jobs,’” Fae said, mimicking her date’s harsh tone.
After the disruption things did not get better after Fae realized the date just didn’t seem that interested in what she had to say about her travels.
“He was like, ‘Tell me about your trip,’ and then I was like, ‘You don’t care. Why would I do that?’”
The date then admitted he in fact did not care, she said.
“I am telling you this story because I have heard so many people tell a similar version of this story except their version of this story does not end with, ‘And I got up and left, and I only wasted less than 30 minutes of [my] time,’” Fae said. “Their version of the story ends with, ‘and then this date continued on for three hours, and then he asked if he could take me home.’ … You don’t have to get that far. You can just leave.”
@acidfairy_ stop wasting your time 2k24 #dating ♬ original sound – Fae
A 2022 survey from the jewelry company Shane Co. looked into some common first-date habits and found about 11% of Americans have walked out on a first date before. Survey results also showed that 39% of survey respondents would rather be told if a date was going poorly and cut the date short.
Responses to Fae’s video seemed largely positive, with some commenters expressing how much her advice empowered them for the next time they’re in a situation they want to leave.
“Wish I’d seen this before my worst date ever,” user Katie Payne (@lifeistoolong) said. “Definitely not gonna let it get that far again.”
“One time a guy picked me up and played his own raps so I had him drop me back off,” user @demon_fairy said.
Meanwhile, other commenters also expressed that sometimes people can be put in tough situations where it may be in the best interest of their safety to sit through a date.
“I think a safety aspect has been a reason I didn’t cut a terrible date short,” user Michelle (@michelletran22) said. “[Because] I’d rather get home safe and politely say we didn’t vibe at that point for my safety! But I respect the boldness of no bs/not wasting time.”
Another commenter revealed they’ve had a date that lasted even less than 10 minutes.
“My shortest date was 7 minutes,” user Nadia (@aneldermillennial) said. “I will not waste my time to be uncomfortable for someone else’s sake.”
Fae responded, “Queen.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Fae.
