Should a man foot the bill on the first date? Let's hope you're done living in the 1920s and your answer to this question is 'absolutely not'.
Unfortunately, though, not all women are of this mindset - as shown by a recent controversial incident shared to Reddit.
Reddit user u/CuteBananaMuffin thought his first date with an unidentified young woman had gone well - that was, until he realised she expected him to pay for her meal of lobster and €80 ($91.60) wine.
It all started when u/CuteBananaMuffin messaged the girl to ask if she wanted to go on a second date. He received this response: "After what you did last time you expect me to go out with you again? Wow."
When the confused Redditor asked what exactly he had done wrong, she replied that he had made her pay for her own food and drinks, asking "wtf".
He argued his case, stating his carbonara and beer had cost €17.50 ($20), while her meal added up to an expensive €110 ($126) and adding that he was "a student not your sugar daddy".
The girl was not impressed, blowing up at him in her next message: "Wow you are so rude!!!! I'm never going out with you ever again, if you can't pay for a girl's food then why accepting the invite... gentlemen ALWAYS pay for girl's food but i guess you are gay".
The conversation ended explosively, with her naming him a "f**king a**hole".
While the Redditor didn't get a second date, he did kickstart a debate on Reddit as to whether men should be expected to pay for dinner on a date.
Thankfully, most people seemed to agree the girl was in the wrong. "Anyone that expects that royalty treatment is not someone you want in your life [sic]. Good move," wrote one person.
Others agreed, with one girl saying: "I’m a girl and I always go into the mindset tht I pay for my drinks/food with anyone. Guy or girl and if they offer to pay I’ll let them but offer to pay theirs next time we go out. Even when I was single I never assumed a guy would pay for me dating or not [sic]."
However, another Redditor stated that they believed the person who sets up the date should get their dosh out, writing: "The one who invites another pays for the meal. Doesn't matter if it's a man or woman or whoever. If I invite you, I pay. Isn't this like common sense?"
Speaking to Bored Panda about the dating failure, u/CuteBananaMuffin said: "She was shocked that I let her pay. She didn’t say anything at the time, but from her facial expression I realized she was furious. I usually pay for both sides when it comes to the bill, but I’m a student and I work 60 hours a week to pay for food, books etc. so I obviously couldn’t afford to pay 110 euros for her food. I asked her out again to apologize pretty much for the previous time, hoping we can go to a cheaper place so I could make up for it, but as you can see, the result was really bad…"
We don't think you missed out on much buddy...
