YOU KNOW THE drill: You’re on a date and things seem to be going smoothly. She goes to the bathroom while the waiter is bringing over a desert menu…but when she comes back, there’s some emergency and she has to cut your date short. You thought the night was going well, but now you’re second guessing it all—did you have food stuck in your teeth? Did you talk to too much about your mother? Maybe you shouldn’t have told her you dressed up for opening night of the new Star Wars (hey, we aren’t judging!).
Or, maybe there really was an emergency. The truth is, you won’t know until you reach out for a second date. But we’ve got 18 real stories of the worst (read: best) ways women have bailed on a date, both mid-meeting as well as before they even made it through the restaurant door.
“Years ago, on my way to a blind date, I went into full anaphylactic shock from eating nuts. I had to pull over and was rushed to the ER—just awful! I had my mom take a photo of me in the hospital bed and I texted it to the date to show him I really had been rushed to the ER on the way to our date. But here’s the kicker…I then kept that photo and used it a few times over the following years to get out of dates or bail last minute. It worked like a charm. Who can be mad at a girl in a hospital bed?” – Sarah, 30
“I went out with a guy who was slightly louder and more obnoxious than most I typically dated, but I thought he was kind of funny and charming and we shared a passion for health and fitness, so I agreed to a second date. He took me to a nice Italian place and when the waiter came, I ordered salmon, but asked for it over greens instead of pasta because I’m celiac. When the waiter gently asked if I wanted the pasta on the side, Mr. Loud-and-Obnoxious piped up and rudely declared, “She doesn’t eat carbs!” Baffled, I politely corrected him, “Actually, vegetables have carbs, so I clearly do eat carbs. It’s actually the gluten I can’t have—I’m allergic.” He then proceeded to argue with me about whether vegetables were carbs. Finally, I just said, ‘I’m not an expert on nutrition, but I’m pretty sure I know more about carbs than you. I’m also pretty sure this is not going to work.’ I just stood up and left. I was shocked when he had the nerve to continuously text me over the next week (no apology included).” – Amanda, 25
“The day of a first date, I completely lost my voice from a tradeshow, but I met up with him anyway. It was going really well, until he answered a phone call from his mom and started kissing my neck—not at the same time, both weird first date behavior. When he asked me to go back to his place to pop champagne off his balcony—which, like, really?—my voice was 100% gone, so I told him I was sick and needed to just go home. I had already told him that my whispering wasn’t from an illness, but he was paying such little attention our whole date that he didn’t even catch this.” – Alyssa, 23
“You’re kind of a d*ck so I’m going to go home now. But thanks for dinner.” – Claire, 28
“I went on a date with this really, really sweet guy to try and get over a breakup. Halfway through, though, I couldn’t keep it together and I just started bawling. The guy froze. I was mortified; I just got up and ran out of the restaurant. He texted me later and the next day asking if I was OK, but I was too embarrassed to even answer him. I still feel bad—I hope he doesn’t think he was the one who made me cry.” – Becky, 27