This podcast contains adult language and content.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you have a story to share, send it to Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com. Back in 2014, I had gone on my first date with a guy that I had matched with on Tender.

I lived in D.C. at the time and worked on Capitol Hill for a U.S. congressman.

I was 28 or 29 back then.

While nice, handsome, and a self-declared southern gentleman,

Tinder Guy was extremely pushy leading up to our first date.

My job was even more insanely busy than normal during that time,

often requiring frequent all-nighters and

entailing exactly zero social life to speak of. Looking back now, it's painfully obvious that I

absolutely did not have the time or space in my life for dating back then. But after months of my best friend begging me to let her create a tender profile for me,

I basically agreed.

For weeks, I had tried to reschedule said first date due to work being crazy,

but Tender Guy literally would not take no for an answer. He was also extremely

manipulative and quite gifted at it. He basically guilt tripped me into finally agreeing to a first date.

Dinner was the only activity mentioned for the date, so I went through with it. While the date went fine on paper and probably

looked as such to fellow patrons and bystanders, Tinder Guy nonetheless gave me the ick for some

reason. But at the time, I couldn't lock down why. He was nice, polite, had a great job, was attractive, but still, something about the way that he would

gaze at me so intently without blinking was so unsettling. It was like he was playing some

intense staring contest, where he was the only contestant. There were a lot of other red flags during our date,

but the first major one was the fact that I was casually held hostage,

or at least it felt that way.

...