Not if they'd spent hours getting their hair just right to then stuff their coiffed locks into a helmet, spending the rest of the date with flat hair and mascara trails leading back to their ears.

(Reminded me of a Billy Connelly stand up routine... )

I used to live in a suite apartment and one of my neighbors had his attorney office in our building. I kept bumping into a guy as he was always leaving my neighbor's office. One day he asked me if I want to go on a date with him. So we met, went to a restaurant, and he ordered some expensive dishes and lots of wine. I ordered some fish for myself and only drank water. When we asked for the bill, he took out a 500 Euro bill and his Visa card, placed them both on the table and said "Listen I don't feel like breaking the 500 Euro bill and neither do I want to use my Visa card cause I can't remember the pin, can you please pay for my meal as well?"
We never dated again.
(I did not pay for his meal, he had to break the 500 Euro bill)

What a cheek! The nerve of the guy!

I hope you got up and walked out after paying for yours? I would have...

I once went on an initial introductory meeting - so dislike the term "date" - with a guy who made me pay for my...wait for it...less than CHF15.00 Burger King meal. (Okay, the venue was my choice as that was what I craved that evening). All well and good as I'd prepared myself to pay my way given that he was...er...let's say a native of this country.

What really annoyed me, however, was when he proceeded to eat more than a few of my fries and chicken wings as well as his own meal! Needless to say, that was the first and last of our meetings.

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" The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. " ~ Arthur C Clarke

LOL Your story is hilarious.
Yes I did exactly that.

Thanks and good on you! Excellent in fact!

Just to finish off, hehehe, the mutual friend who introduced us was...erm...ever so politely relieved of that duty pretty quickly but we remain great buddies which is the most important thing.

what was that all about?

Would I be the only one who wouldn't feel like haggling at the restaurant table and just pay the silly bill...to leave the scheaming douche feel like a proper douche afterwards. What is one meal in the big picture...nutin. People are so worried about their cash. Cheap.

The attitude of the person towards the bill is a pretty good diagnostic, I know, but still..

I believe in some kind of karma. Jerky behavior always bites one in the ass, at the end of the day.

Depends how much it is, MC, I wouldn't pay for his food if he ordered a load of expensive stuff that I wouldn't order for myself!

they guy has a 500 EUR note on the table. what's there to haggle about. "i don't feel like breaking the note". WTF? You should have said "I don't feel like breaking your nose, but I will do if you don't stop acting like a cheap ass"

Seriously, as far as I'm concerned, a guy should be prepared to pay when he takes a woman out, at least crucially in the first stages of the relationship.

If we go out and he then comes up with some elaborate or lame excuses as to why I should not only pay my share but his too, trust me, there'll be no ridiculous attempts at haggling, bargaining or negotiation involved.

No problem. Sure I'll pay for what I've had but as to his share, absolutely no way! No can or will do. That's down to him, regardless of the cost. I'm then outta there and the resultant failed fledgling association. Yeah!

__________________
" The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. " ~ Arthur C Clarke

makes me wonder what he was trying to learn about you. you know how lawyers can be.

It's more on principle and less about the actual cash, I think. If he'd tried to pay with the Visa and couldn't remember the pin that's one thing, but showing off his 500€ bill with no intention to try to use his visa just identifies him as a somewhat arrogant prick. I think karma needed to catch up with him there.

Huh? So if every women he ask for a date do that because they are affraid of haggling at the table, it makes him having a lots of great and free meals on someone else expenses.

Lisa did what I expect a woman to do if she respect herself and don't let a prick use her.

Good for you Lisa.

You go sista'

I think so, too. On the other hand most people order loads of different things I would never eat nor drink, so...It's good to be at the point in life where one meal paid for somebody wouldn't kill me. Even in this over expensive place..

See, I'd not be so sure. I think either way, both should be prepared to pay. To expect a guy to pay right away, might be a cultural difference, or old schoolness, no idea.

I just wouldn't want cash and dates, romantic things mixing.

I think to show up on a date and expect a guy to pay, no matter what, might be a reason why some guys actually figure out tactics to test a chick if she happens to be one of those, who automatically expect the man to shell out.

It usually happens that way, doesn't it, the guy pays, but still, I consider the expectations of chicks to be pampered far more irritating and more probable than the odd guy who shows up on a date with no cash whatsoever or tricks a girl into footing the entire bill, not even going Dutch.

Square deals offer zero ground for expectations, assumptions..it's liberating. I think modern girls don't like to owe anything to anyone, and would prefer having people owing them, since that's really nothing, (not saying I would be "modern" in this, hahaha) nor hang onto cash too obviously, me thinks. Kinda taking the higher ground than one resto bill.

He did sound like a darling, for reals. I agree. I still do think that if you let karma sit and wait, it gains on power. I don't always count on people's conscience, some have honestly none...It's only the readiness of one protecting their little wallets in romantic scenarios that strike me as odd..

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"L'homme ne peut pas remplacer son coeur avec sa tete, ni sa tete avec ses mains." J.H. Pestalozzi

“The only difference between a rut and a grave is a matter of depth.” S.P. Cadman

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." A. Einstein

Being the thoroughly old fashioned woman that I am (and proud of it too) - at least when it comes to these situations - I expect no less.

Could be a cultural thing too. Am a mix and in each of those societies, when a man takes a woman out with a view to forming a romantic partnership, he does the paying. Tra-la-la!!!

I have good male buddies here and in UK - some quite younger than myself - who would not dream of the woman paying and would actually feel insulted if she offered and so it goes on...

In conclusion, for me it's a case of each to their own view and whatever works for them. Neither is right or wrong or better than the other...

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" The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. " ~ Arthur C Clarke

I think if you wait for karma to congratulate you for taking the bill when the guy act like a douche, I feel you may be very disappointed... If karma exist, I think it reward you for doing good actions not for letting someone abuse your good manners.

I think if a man ask a girl out for dinner, it should come with the intention to pay. Now, since you never know what kind of guy you go on a first date with, you are better to bring money and not expect him to pay. When the bill comes, since he invited, he should take it and pay. A little protest from the girl is well seen so it shows she is ready to pay and didn't expect it.

A real gentleman who takes a girl out pays the bill in my book. For many girls and guys I know, if the girl insist to pay it is insulting and won't be taking out again. If the guy wants to share the bill it is view as cheap and won't be going out with him again.

Is it old fashion, I don't know. But I think we all could enjoy a bit more of the old fashion in our life.

Amen to that Sista!

I think that's the key thing, you just wrote. I think it's the expectations of automatically the men having to pay that irks me. But otherwise, old fashion is a good thing, I agree.

I also think it is educational if chicks do not count automatically on guys having to pay, nor guys thinking "I buy her a few dinners (or one, the horror) and I get laid", right...

Works the other way too ie there are many guys today - young and old - who actually expect and want to pay from the get-go. Thankfully, those are the kinds of gentlemen I have either been invited out by (except Mr Burger King meal as mentioned in an earlier post of mine) or have as good buddies.

A few years ago I was dating someone who preferred to pay her half, which annoyed me as I liked eating at restaurants beyond her budget (and for which I would have been happy to pay for both)!

Tom