Story Sent in by Guy:
In early college, I took Laura to a local mall for a date: lunch, a walk, and playing stuff by ear. We ended up in a Build-A-Bear workshop and she cooed over the various example stuffed animals.
"They are so cute!" she said, "I want one!"
"Go ahead and make one," I said.
"You paying?" she asked.
"Nope."
"Why not? This is a date."
I replied, "I was going to pay for lunch, but not for every little thing along the way."
She looked at the bears and for several moments seemed as though she was going to burst into tears. "I really, really, really, really, really want a bear."
I said, "I really want a new computer, but that's just how it is."
She gave me a disgusted look. "I thought you were powerful," she said, which I took to mean, "I thought you were a rich guy and easily taken advantage of."
"Nope. Want to do lunch?"
At lunch, we went to the food court, and she bee-lined for the most expensive place. It was American fare, but all done on a fancy rotisserie thing. She ordered two chicken dinners for herself and then turned to me. I said, "You're hungry enough for two chickens?"
She said, "Well, you're paying for lunch and I thought we should do something to make this more of a date."
I squinted up at the menu board and I said, "Tell you what: you're right. Let's go back to Build-A-Bear and I'll grab you whichever one you want. Then, with your new bear, we can come back here and all three of us can have lunch."
She gasped. "You mean it?"
I said, "Race you there!"
She squealed and took off at a near-run.
I hurried in the other direction. She sent me a "Where r u?" text, to which I replied, "Home." No more texts arrived after that.
*
I'm going to be at ROFLCon today (and possibly tomorrow). If you're there, find me! - Jared
Nice! Good for OP to get out of this situation the best way possible :)
ReplyDeleteOP is a Super Asshole, no question about it, either that or he is REALLY poor at telling the story.
ReplyDeleteDamn straight. He should've paid for every bear, chicken, or marmoset that her little heart desired.
DeleteThere's a basic principle of good manners that says that another person's rudeness doesn't excuse your own. The date in this story was pretty awful, but that doesn't mean that the OP wasn't also an asshole. If she'd said the line about needing two chickens to make it "more of a date" and he'd said something like, "I'm sorry, I think we have a different idea of what a date is. I'd like to end this one now. Goodbye!" I would be applauding him, but making an offer he didn't intend to fulfill and then running in the other direction makes him an asshole.
DeleteYeah I know you want to believe the best of your OPs Jared, because after all they had the good taste to submit stories to your site, but I'm with Beth.
DeleteThere's no arguing with good taste.
Delete----- "Go ahead and make one," I said.
ReplyDeleteThis statement sounds like OP was going to buy her a bear. I can see why she thought that, even if she does sound kind of psycho for the remainder of the date.
I disagree. If he was planning to buy her one, he probably would've said something to her that was a bit more black and white, in an effort to impress her (i.e., "I'll buy you one"). She said she wanted one, so his saying "Go ahead and make one" only seems to imply that he'd wait while she put one together. Or whatever you do in those stores.
DeleteEqual blame here. The girl is a taker for assuming the OP is going to buy her a bear (assuming this is early in the relationship) and going for the most expensive food place. The OP is a jerk for getting out of it the way he did. All he had to do was stick to his "I'm paying for lunch and that's it" line.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I don't really like anyone in this story. Both the OP and his date seem rude.
ReplyDeleteNobody is bothered by the fact that he planned to take her to a mall food court for their first date?
ReplyDeleteDitching her like that makes the OP a jerk, even if his date was also being a jerk. Man up and tell her you're not interested in her and leave.
ReplyDeleteGreat, so now in addition to dinner wh0res, we have to deal with build-a-bear wh0res?
ReplyDeleteIt takes a powerful man to spend $50 on a teddy bear. Overpriced plushies are only for the strong and the ruthless.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the number one rule of Build-A-Bear workshop? You never talk about Build-A-Bear workshop.
DeleteThe number two rule of Build-A-Bear workshop? You NEVER talk about Build-A-Bear workshop!
LMBO, wolf!!!!
DeleteYou'll have to be more specific. EVERY guy here looks like that.
ReplyDeleteOh sorry. I'll narrow it down to say a fire-crotch face.
ReplyDeleteShe's a horrible person, but - sorry, did I read that right? "The most expensive place"...at the mall food court? What's that, Del Taco? Did you mistake "fancy rotisseries" for the Hot Dog on a Stick stand? Just thank your lucky stars she didn't make a beeline for Sbarro, those breadsticks really add up.
ReplyDeleteEh, I'm going to side with OP on this. His date was psycho bear/lunch whore.. It also sounds like this is a date that happened outside the Americas, both North and South. Certain turns of phrase make me think somewhere in Asia, i.e., “I thought you were powerful”, “some type of fancy American rotisserie”. Who refers to 18-20 year old as “powerful”? Which to me infers some cultural specific turn of phrase. As for the food court venue, they are in college and they did choose to go to a mall for the date so I didn't find this off putting. If as I assume, this happened in a place where “American” fare is above the norm it would be pricey, like how French Crepes are sold at a premium in US food courts.
ReplyDeleteHe did tell her what his budget was for the date after the bear incident and she then tries to take advantage by ordering two meals. So, as he was dealing with a bit of a psycho manipulative twit, his exit, though a bit dramatic, may have been the only way out.
Team OP, this story warms my heart. To those saying he should have taken the high road or "man up": Bullsh!t! This chick totally wasted his time. She deserved to be punk'd and he deserved to get some amusement out of it.
ReplyDeleteI think OP sounds like a total dick. I'm not saying the date was any better, but he came off terribly.
ReplyDeleteIn the build-a-bear store, he should have said something more clear like "if you want to get one i will wait for you," or something, but telling her to go ahead makes it seem like he's going to buy it for her. If I was on a DATE that is absolutely what I would have thought. If I said he wanted one and he didn't make any indication that he was going to buy it, that would be fine. But saying "go ahead" I would take that as he wanted to get it. Additionally, he was kind of a dick after, like "no, i'm not paying for everything," as opposed to like "This is a little bit steep for me right now, but I would still love to buy you lunch. Maybe for your birthday if you still want it we can come back."
Then getting upset about the price of food in a MALL FOOD COURT, and then instead of telling her it wasn't working out, making up a fake plan and then ditching, and no one paying for the food at the restaurant? Yeah, no actions by either of them are excusable.
Team OP, he was straight and honest with her about not paying for every little thing.
ReplyDeleteHer ordering two chickens for herself is also a little extreme and shows how much of a sponge she was so I have no sympathy for her when OP ditched her, simple and no one made a scene.
1. Who the hell takes their date to a mall food court? Unless, he's probably 15 or something. Even then, there are better places than a mall food court!
ReplyDelete2. From what I remember, those bears were nothing more than 20$ or so. A better move would've been "Alright, great.. here's a tenner, knock yourself out!" j/k.
While its game even if you don't have money to go out on a date, times have moved on from the old days where women would suffer along with their men. You can't afford a 20$ bear and a 30$ lunch? Well, you gotta think real hard why you are dating in the first place.
Wow, this comment has officially ruined this site for me. I mean, there's arguing your point and then there's arguing your point using tired, sexist language and misogyny.
ReplyDeleteAnd I guess Jared is okay with this, which is his right, but obviously as someone with a vagina (and all the power apparently) I'm not.
Good day to you, ABCotD.
Jared is okay with free speech. He's also okay with people sometimes being offended by it. Sometimes.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.buildabear.com/shopping/?sc_cid=ps_google_G+BAB+%7C+Brand&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=G+BAB+%7C+Brand&utm_keyword=%7Bkeyword%7D
ReplyDelete