i thought this story was a one-off until I did some research. What is wrong with some people? This would never have happened "in my day."
A guy and gal met on Tinder and set up their first date. First dates are supposed to be for making that first impression as good as you possibly can so it might lead to a second, etc.
So, the guy ghosts her and won't return her calls. She thought the date ended well, so she enlisted the help of a morning DJ to contact the guy to ask why he was ignoring her attempts to contact him.
The DJ had the girl conferenced in on the call while he called the dude. Turns out, she didn't offer certain details in her story. Everything seemed to be going great until the meal was about over. While he was in the restroom, she called the waiter over and ordered an appetizer and 3 complete meals to go -- for her kids! Of course, she expected him to pay for all of it, which he did rather than make a scene. He may have been glad to pay anyway if she'd had the common sense to ask him first.
When the DJ asked her why, she came up with a list of reasons why there was nothing wrong with what she did. She said it was his fault he went to the restroom just as the waiter came back. If he'd been at the table, he would have witnessed the to-go order. Second, she had to pay a baby sitter for HER kids. Since he asked her out on this date, she figured he owed her for the cost to her -- like babysitters.
There were a few more rationalizations, but none of them were valid when it's obvious she felt the world owed her everything, and her date was just a member of that group.
After getting to the bottom of the date with no denials from the woman, the DJ and his crew were telling her that they don't blame the guy for ghosting her. They were shocked that he was nice enough to pick up the check for food neither of them ate at the restaurant.
Through searching on the Interweb, there are more and more examples of women doing this same thing and even on a larger scale. One woman ordered 10 to-go meals for her 3 kids! This guy was lucky he didn't have to go the the restroom! He told the waitress to hold the to-go orders until they talked about it. When she insisted that he pay for 10 meals (not 3) for the 3 kids he's never met, he got up and walked out on the date.
Has anyone here ever had a similar experience? I understand this might only apply to communities that have a high volume of fatherless children (we know what the stats are), so I imagine this is a cultural phenomenon that's more associated with a given demographic.
Do some web searches. Lots of videos of DJs running into the same situation where the woman was confused as to why her date stopped answering her messages. Also lots of podcasts with stories that are as bad or worse.
No wonder guys have been labeled as no longer wanting to date. Hook-up culture is a whole lot cheaper.