An Online Friend
Some dates, unfortunately, don’t always go as planned. One Reddit user, who we’ll call Stephanie, recalled a date with a friend she met online and let’s just say it was a disaster from beginning to end.
According to Stephanie, this story begins with a friend who she Skyped with practically every day.
“He was a gamer and would usually play games and Skype with me at the same time. We met ‘Jack’ during an online multiplayer game.
For 2 months, I didn’t really have that much time for Skyping because of my own work, so he started skyping with Jack instead. When I finally did have time to Skype again, my friend asked me if Jack could join in on our conversations because they were still playing games together. I didn’t really have a problem with that. So, I said, ‘Sure.'”
Similar Interests
Stephanie noted that she is pretty good at making friends. She and Jack, who seemed pretty nice from what she could tell, became fast friends.
“After some time of talking as a group, Jack started Skyping me alone when he was playing, but my friend wasn’t. We talked about all kinds of stuff from work, to friends, our favorite dishes to eat, and topics like punctuality. I said something along the lines of: ‘If it’s important to me, I’m always there 10 minutes early’ to which he said the same thing.”
Stephanie emphasized that it’s important to remember that Jack agreed that punctuality is incredibly important.
A Dispute Over Leggings
Despite talking all the time, there were some things they disagreed on.
“I also told him that one time, last winter, I went to work wearing leggings under my track pants because they were the warmest thing I could find. He told me that he would never do something like that as it was totally unprofessional, and you should only wear them at home/the gym. Whatever, my boss didn’t care. She actually started wearing them, too (only hers were about twice as expensive as mine).”
After some more weeks of constant Skyping, Jack asked Stephanie out on a date and she happily agreed.
Staying Up Late
The evening before their date, Jack and Stephanie Skyped before bed. Stephanie turned in early because she didn’t want to be tired or late for their date. Jack, however, had other plans. He said that wanted to play a few more rounds of his video game and then he would eventually get some sleep.
Stephanie jokingly told him, “Well, you better [get some sleep]. Otherwise, you’ll oversleep for tomorrow.”
The Day Of Our Date
The day of the date, Stephanie went to the meeting spot they both agreed on and patiently waited for him to arrive.
“I came 8 minutes early since again punctuality is something that’s important to me. Twenty minutes went by, and then another ten. I had now been waiting for half an hour, and I started to think that maybe I had gotten something wrong. As I was about to text Jack, my phone rang. He then sent me a text that read: ‘I think I can see you.’ That was definitely a bit creepy, but I thought: ‘Well, whatever, he’s probably just trying to be funny.'”
Apparently, Jack had overslept even though he promised he wouldn’t. He didn’t even bother to apologize to Stephanie. A friend of Stephanie’s later told her that Jack told him that he couldn’t sleep because he was too excited for their date. So, who knows what the truth actually is?
In addition to his lack of punctuality, he wasn’t exactly dressed for the occasion.
“He was wearing sports shorts (the exact same thing he had told me earlier you should only wear to the gym or while at home). Well, he was wearing them on our date! At this point, I almost didn’t care because I was starving. We met at the mall.”
Deciding On Somewhere To Eat
Once they finally met up, Stephanie asked Jack what kind of food he was in the mood for. He told her she could pick the restaurant.
“At first, I said Chinese, but then he said that he didn’t like Chinese. I then suggested burgers, but he said that he had eaten one yesterday. I said a very nice Mexican restaurant, but again, he said, ‘No.’ For some reason, he thought that Mexican on a first date was a big ‘no-no.’ He then saw a steakhouse and said, ‘Come on, we’re going there.’ Like, not as in, ‘Would you like to or something?’ but more like he was commanding me. So we went in, sat down, and ordered.”
After finally deciding on a restaurant, Jack and Stephanie started engaging in some small talk. They ended up on the topic of tattoos and Stephanie had to suffer through Jack’s love of his tattoo artist, even though his tribal tattoos were less than impressive.
Picky Eater
Finally, the food came and Jack immediately started to pick it apart.
“He had ordered some sort of stuffed-steak with onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, and corn. He later told me that he didn’t like onions, tomatoes or bell peppers but had just wanted the corn. I sort of just half-nodded-and-smiled while eating, so I didn’t have to say anything.”
While Jack and Stephanie ate, they continued their conversation…even though Jack did most of the talking.
“Up until this point, to be honest, it was just a bit awkward. He kept on talking and never really gave me a chance to answer.”
Walking Around The Mall
After they finished eating, Jack asked Stephanie if she wanted to take a walk around the mall.
“I thought to myself: ‘Well, it has been a little bit awkward, but he’s a really nice guy. So, maybe he’s just kind of nervous and that’s why he’s been behaving so weird.’
Anyway, I agreed, and we strolled about while he kept on talking.”
Furniture Store
On their stroll, Stephanie noticed that a new furniture store had opened. Knowing she needed a new wardrobe, she asked Jack if he wanted to go in and look around.
“I never found anything and told him that, so we headed towards the exit. We passed the chair section, and he said, ‘Oh I could use a new chair.’ He started looking, and I suggested one. He then told me that my chair choice was ‘not good enough’ for someone that was as much of a man as he was. (Mind you, he was a bit on the chubby side, but in no way, shape, or form was he unable to fit in that chair. Make of that what you will). He didn’t find anything either, so we continued on our way to the exit.”
They almost made it out of the store until they passed the beds and mattresses.
“He said, ‘Oh boy, I also need a new mattress! Good thing I have you with me, so you can tell me what a good mattress feels like!’ My brain went: ‘Uhh, what?’ I tried to figure out if he was joking or not. He continued to tell me that he had a king-sized bed and that he really liked soft mattresses as he thought that doing the dirty was much better with a softer mattress. He then proceeded to ask me what kind of mattresses I preferred. I told him I preferred medium-to-hard mattresses as I always had back/hip aches after sleeping on a softer mattress. He replied, ‘Well, we’ll have to figure something out then.'”
Apparently, Stephanie didn’t give Jack the reaction he was looking for, so they finally left the store for good.
Candy Land
The next stop on their walk was a candy store because Jack had run out of “certain things.” The small talk continued inside the candy shop.
“He bought all kinds of different stuff and also some cans of easy cheese. He asked me if I had ever tried it, and I said, ‘No.’ He told me it was so good and totally worth the diarrhea that he got afterward since he was completely lactose intolerant (Um, ew!). I really thought about asking him why he ate it then but thought to myself: ‘DO NOT ENGAGE.'”
To make things even more uncomfortable for Stephanie, Jack kept going on about how good certain products in the store were. His comments were just creepy. He said stuff like, “Oh, strawberry-flavored whipped cream! I bet it tastes very good but is also very sticky. We would have to wash the sheets after we use it.’ (Yes, he actually said that on the first date).”
Yikes!
That Escalated Quickly
The candy store conversations weren’t the only creepy things he said that day. Stephanie just preferred to block out the rest.
“As we walked out of the store, he said that he was thirsty, so we went to a coffee shop and got a glass of water each. He then asked me what I wanted to do after that, and I told him I didn’t know.
He said, ‘Well, we can go to the cinema and watch a movie.’ I told him I didn’t really want to see anything except for one movie but that I was already going to watch it on the weekend with a friend. It was some horror movie. He interrupted me and said that he didn’t watch horror movies because he was too scared. I then continued to say that we wouldn’t be able to talk much while watching a movie anyway.”
Of course, Jack’s intentions weren’t so innocent and he had other things on his mind besides just watching a movie.
He said, “Well, you’re right. Talking during a movie is never nice, but we don’t have to talk or watch it. It’s just that it’s dark in there. We could sit in the last row and do other things (with a creepy wink).”
Quick Escape
That was the moment when Stephanie finally had enough of the nonsense.
“I told him I was sorry but that I really didn’t want to watch any movie right now and then excused myself to the bathroom. I thought about what my options were and how I was going to get out. I decided to text my dad and told him to call me in about 15 minutes saying that he had to come and pick me up for some reason. Luckily, it was my dad’s day off, and he drove me to the mall which Jack knew. However, he was there with his car, too, and I definitely didn’t want him to offer to drive me home.”
Stephanie returned to Jack, but only half-listened to things he was talking about while she waited for her dad to call.
“My dad called and told me that he would be picking me up in about 25 minutes (in case Jack could overhear our conversation. I then told Jack I had to leave because my dad forgot about his doctor’s appointment and might need somebody to drive him home afterward. So, I had to come with him.”
Stephanie was so relieved that this awful date would finally be over in a matter of minutes.
“My dad called me again to tell me that he was in the parking lot and that we would meet at our usual family mall meeting spot. I said goodbye to Jack, but he really insisted on walking me and meeting my dad. To this day, I’m not sure why he insisted on walking there with me. My initial thought was that he didn’t believe I was actually going to meet my dad. Well, my dad arrived, and so he had to leave.”
The Follow-Up
After Stephanie’s escape from the disaster date, Jack followed up with her about her dad’s doctor appointment. She said it went well. He texted her the next day too. Stephanie, being the nice girl she is, wanted to stay friends with Jack, so she answered.
“The day after, I got a text from my friend (the guy who I had met Jack through) asking if I was avoiding Jack. I answered, ‘No’ and he wanted to know why. My friend later told me that Jack had told him that he felt like I was avoiding him. I told my friend we had been texting most of the day and that there was no way (in my eyes, at least) that he could’ve felt like I had been avoiding him. That same evening, I first Skyped with my friend because Jack was still at work and talked to my friend about the date and stuff. My friend left, and about 5 minutes later, Jack showed up.”
She talked with him a bit before she asked why he thought she was avoiding him. It was complete silence on his end.
“He said, ‘Well, I feel like you’re avoiding me.’ I asked him again, ‘Why?’ because that wasn’t really answering my question. Jack said, ‘Because I felt that you were avoiding me.’ I responded, ‘We have been texting. How did you get that feeling?’ He then said, ‘Well, because you didn’t sSkype with me yesterday at all.’ I just sat in my room while my brain went: ‘What?’ I had to ask him if he was being serious. He was.”
At this point, Stephanie had already given up. They just continued their usual small talk, which again, consisted of Jack doing most of the talking and Stephanie doing most of the listening.
Dodged A Bullet
Eventually, Jack and Stephanie’s awkward friendship fizzled.
“We didn’t talk again for a long time, and I definitely dodged a bullet because, after a while, Jack had actually started to get mad at my friend because he had started to talk to someone else online more often them him. It was definitely a warning sign, and I’m happy I escaped from that picture without any major repercussions.”