Woman texts ‘brutally ugly’ date by mistake—and he leaves her with the bill

There are some first dates that are merely awkward, and then there are those that become internet legends. A story from Reddit user u/Affectionate_Base827 is one of those timeless tales—a masterclass in cringeworthy moments and perfect payback that's making the rounds again.

The man shared his experience on the platform, explaining it all started promisingly. He met a woman on Match.com and, after a few days of good conversation, decided to meet.

"We had been messaging back and forth for a good few days and we were getting on great. She seemed laid back, fun, and pretty easy to talk to," he wrote.

Man reads his cell phone at dinnerCanva

Wanting to make a good impression, he booked a table at a nice restaurant for a full sit-down dinner rather than a quick coffee. From the moment they met, however, he sensed something was off.

"I got a feeling early on that I maybe didn’t meet her expectations looks-wise," he admitted.

He described her as "somber at first" but noted she "loosened up after several glasses of wine." Just as their main course ended, she excused herself to go to the bathroom. While she was gone, his phone buzzed. It was a text—from her.

She had obviously intended to send it to a friend, but in her haste, she sent it directly to her date. The message read:

"This date is rubbish, he’s brutally ugly and I’m not having fun. Can you call me in about 5 minutes and I’ll pretend there’s an emergency?"

A couple on a bad dateCanva

Stunned, the man decided to flip the script. Instead of confronting her, he flagged down their waiter, grabbed his coat, and calmly delivered an all-time great exit line.

"My wife has gone to the bathroom and I’ve just had a call from work. There’s an emergency I have to deal with," he told the waiter. "She has the credit card, she will square up the bill."

And with that, he walked out, leaving her to deal with the check and the consequences of her accidental text.

The post, predictably, blew up on Reddit, with users applauding his reaction. "Great job, mate. She didn’t have the decency to tell you it wasn’t working but had the audacity to act like it was going well just to get a free meal. I would have walked out too," one user, u/Some_Random_GTI, wrote.

Another, u/Am-I-Done, wished he'd stuck around, commenting: "The only mistake you made was blocking her number. Would have been fun to get her follow-up calls and texts to see her reaction."

Gif of Tim Robisnon saying "Yes!"Tenor

Others, like u/Dioscouri, noted that while bad dates happen, there's a better way to handle them: "I’ve gone on more than one date where it was obvious that it wasn’t going to work out... There’s no need to be cruel about it."

This article originally appeared earlier this year.