‘I Paid for My Own Food’: Woman Says First Date Didn’t Offer to Pay for Meal
TikTok User Sparks Debate Over First Date Payment Etiquette
TikTok creator Seri Thompson, known as @serissnaps, shared a video on August 13 detailing a first date experience that quickly ignited a heated discussion about who should pay the bill. The post, captioned “I hate it here,” amassed 82,000 likes and thousands of comments divided over modern dating expectations.
The Date and the Dispute
Thompson explained she matched with a man named Ethan on Hinge. In the first clip, she appears dressed up in her car, stating, “Date one with Ethan. You guys,” signaling the start of the evening.
The follow-up video, filmed after she returned home, captured her frustration. “I paid for my own food. Was it a date? I don’t know. … I paid for my own food,” she said. Thompson noted that Ethan did not offer to cover her meal, nor did she pay for his. “But someone has to do it, so I did,” she added.
Commenters Split on Dating Norms
The comments section became a battleground for opposing views on dating etiquette. Some viewers mocked the idea that paying for one’s own meal was problematic. One commenter wrote, “You paid for the food you ate? Oh nooooooooooo that’s so baaaaad,” while another questioned if the creator’s definition of a date relied on “someone else pays for [her] food.”
Others defended the practice of splitting the bill. One user suggested daters should “always assume” they are paying for their own meal, and another argued that a man is not obligated to pay on a first date today.
Conversely, several commenters insisted that the person who initiates the date should cover the cost. “If a man asks a woman out on a first date, he ‘should be paying,'” one user asserted. Another added that, for her, a date “wasn’t a date if the man didn’t pay or bring flowers.”
Conversation Shifts to Gender Roles and Feminism
The debate rapidly expanded into a broader argument about feminism and equality. Some framed Ethan’s refusal to pay as an example of “equality,” while critics countered that women only embrace equality when it benefits them. “Why are we expecting men to pay for everything for us now?” asked one commenter. Another described it as “always wild” to see women expect men to foot the bill.
However, a segment of the audience pushed back against politicizing the interaction. One commenter emphasized that people simply have different dating standards, while another argued the core issue was not who paid, but whether the two parties had compatible expectations.
The Daily Dot could not independently verify the details shared in the TikToker’s account. The details above reflect the events as described by @serissnaps on TikTok.
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