A man has revealed how he went on a first date with a woman from Tinder who initially thought that he was a catfish.
In a recent Reddit post shared in the subreddit forum, “Tinder”, a man who goes by the username u/NuttyMuffin69 shared a screenshot of his texts with a woman with whom he appeared to match on Tinder. The caption of the post reads: “First date thought I was a catfish.”
Throughout the text messages, the man was trying to explain what he was wearing and where he was in the restaurant to his date.
“I’m literally sitting right by the door!” his text reads. “Wearing a red plaid shirt, can’t miss me.”
The woman then asked him if the “front door” was facing the “parking lot or the “main road”. The man noted how the door was near the parking lot and that the restaurant’s “patio” was the one by the main road.
He then realised that there was a “much older man” sitting by the door who was also wearing “red”. He clarified to his date that he was not the older man and was not a“catfish”, a term used to describe someone who sets up a fake profile on a “social networking site, for fraudulent or deceptive purposes,” per Merriam-Webster.
“I really hope you didn’t see the much older man sitting by the door outside also wearing red and think I’m a catfish lmao,” his text reads. “I’m sitting by the door inside.”
The woman said “OH MY GOD”, in response, prompting the man to write: “That’s definitely what happened isn’t it lmaoo.” She agreed and wrote: “100 per cent. I’m turning around.”
In response to a comment on Reddit asking what happened next, he said that the woman came back.
“We had a lovely date and a good laugh about it all,” he explained. “We even went and got ice cream afterwards. Planning on getting together again soon.”
As of 25 March, the Reddit post has more than 76,400 upvotes, with many readers finding humour in the situation.
“That is a hilarious start to a date, hope it went well,” one wrote.
“Best icebreaker ever,” another comment reads. “You were lucky that worked out though.”
Other readers applauded the post, one of which called it the “best” post in the “Tinder” forum that they’ve seen for “a long a** time.” They also praised the original poster for his “great honesty and communication [on] a first date.”
However, many people addressed the online dating culture, in general, and claimed that the man and woman should have done a video call first, in order to ensure that neither of them were being catfished.
“Honestly tho, why the h*** are people meeting up with strangers without doing a FaceTime/video call first? You’ll filter out a lot of creeps that way,” one wrote.
“Everyone, for safety, demand a FaceTime before meeting up with someone online so you know for sure it’s the same person as their pictures,” another comment reads. “Also gives you an opportunity to see how recent those pictures are.”
The Independent has reached out to the Reddit user for comment.
