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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Polly Hudson

Don’t filter your dates by age and hobbies, ask them how they shop

Happy man flirting with woman while sitting with wineglasses on table during date at bar
‘There are some topics you need to talk about from the off …’ Photograph: Posed by models; Maskot/Getty Images

A friend of mine once declined a date with a kind, funny, clever man because she hated his shoes. When she relayed this to our group of twentysomethings, it didn’t warrant comment or discussion, because it was such a rational decision, which we all would have made. I mean, come on – you can’t go out with someone with bad trainers, can you?

Fortunately for the continuation of the human race, today’s daters appear to be a little less fastidious. A recent report on relationships by the dating app Plenty of Fish not only failed to mention footwear, but showed that people are keen to skip the small-talk phase, so weighty conversation topics such as life goals and dealbreakers are now brought up straight away.

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