A first date glowed with promise – flirty chats, easy laughs, a candlelit dinner booked with high hopes – until she slipped to the bathroom and his phone buzzed with her drunken text meant for a friend: he was “brutally ugly” and the night was rubbish.
Moments later, the guy stood, coat on, and coolly informed the waiter his “wife” would settle the bill after her emergency call. He walked out, blocked her number, and left her staring at the check while Reddit crowned him the smoothest revenge legend in dating history.
Man’s date accidentally texted him she found him ugly, he stuck her with the bill and vanished.
First dates are already awkward enough without someone live-texting their disappointment to the wrong person. What we’re witnessing here is a perfect storm of liquid courage, mismatched expectations, and the age-old fear of rejecting someone face-to-face.
From her perspective, alcohol probably felt like a social lubricant, until it became the reason she hit “send” on the last open thread. Relationship therapist Esther Perel has long pointed out that modern dating apps create “an illusion of intimacy before real intimacy exists,” which can lead to brutal letdowns when reality doesn’t match the curated profile.
One study published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking found that up to 80% of dating-app users admit to some form of misrepresentation (height, photos, etc.), setting both parties up for disappointment.
Safety concerns are very real too, especially for women. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey revealed that 46% of women under 35 who have online dated say someone continued to contact them after they said they weren’t interested, and 1 in 10 have felt physically threatened.
As security expert Gavin de Becker emphasizes in his book The Gift of Fear, “Intuition is always right in at least two important ways; it is always in response to something, and it always has your best interest at heart.” Learning to recognize and respect these instinctive warnings can guide safer exits, like fake emergencies, without direct confrontation.
That doesn’t excuse calling someone “brutally ugly” in writing, of course. Manners still matter. The healthiest approach? Stick to low-stakes first meets (coffee, daytime walks) so both people can bow out gracefully without feeling trapped or bankrupted by a three-course meal.
Here’s what Redditors had to say:
Some people praise OP’s walkout and suggest fun follow-up actions.
Others agree the date was using OP for a free meal and support leaving.
Some advise safe, low-commitment first dates to avoid bad situations.
Others explain women’s caution in rejecting dates due to safety fears.
Years later, this story is still the ultimate reminder: never drink and text your date. Our Redditor dodged a bullet (and left her with the bill) in one of the smoothest exits in internet history. Would you have handled it with the same ice-cold grace, or would you have waited for dessert just to watch the panic? Tell us your best (or worst) dating disaster in the comments!
