Dating on a whole is rough sometimes, but add in a new generation and it now comes with a side of pettiness.
A woman is going viral after posting a TikTok of her making dinner because someone didn’t let her take the leftovers home. That’s right–she went on a date, ate a portion of her meal, but when it was time to go home, the man apparently grabbed her to-go box.
Why? According to him, he paid for it, so he should take it home. Cue the collective gasp of women everywhere and the rise of a new golden rule in modern dating: always pay for your own plate, so you can keep your pasta and your dignity.
Gnomi Rae (@gnomirae) describes the situation in the text overlay, which reads, “Make dinner with me because I had a date and the dude literally took MY leftovers home because he paid for them.” For the next nearly two minutes, Gnomi proceeds to make homemade nachos.
Why is Dating in 2025 So Difficult?
The phrase “there’s always more fish in the sea” can only mean so much when the fish are actively swimming in the opposite direction of chivalry, leaving common courtesy and manners at the bottom of the ocean. This is exactly what Gnomi ncounters regularly, and viewers don’t know how she keeps doing it. While this particular two-minute clip got almost 500,000 views, she’s gone viral plenty of times before for similar instances. Her formula is simple: most of her TikToks start with “Make [dinner or breakfast] with me because…” and she completes the sentence by inserting the outlandish dating experience.
For example, in one clip, she shares how one of her dates insisted they split the cost of a $1 cookie. Or how, in another instance, she went to a guy’s house only for him to limit her toilet paper usage to only two squares. Amid her countless horror dating stories, some viewers speculate whether or not these situations actually occur. However, while we can’t speak for Gnomi, it’s a fact that the dating scene in 2025 has taken quite a hit.
The Mary Sue has covered other similar horror stories, like the time a man asked out a girl for a coffee date–but refused to pay for her $5 coffee. Or the story where a woman was chastised just for ordering a cocktail for a lunch date. While a sea of men remain single, it seems a lot of them aren’t doing enough to change that status.
What’s the Public Opinion?
Countless viewers flock to Gnomi’s comments section to voice their disbelief. One viewer said, “Please tell you are not going back,” while another shared, “You dodged a stingy bullet. Can you IMAGINE the other dates? Nope.”
Others even share their own stories. One wrote, “I went on a date once with a guy and I had fish tacos… there were 3. I could only finish one so I asked for a box for the other 2 and he just reached over and ATE THEM??? In like 4 bites each. With the waitress still standing there.”
An indignant viewer shared, “I had this happen once, the guy was so excited to take the leftovers for lunch. That I paid for. When we both had work the next day and he took it all. We didn’t see each other for much longer after that, get ur mits off my Thai food.”
As the anecdotes pile up, a lone message shines through in a simple comment: “And this is why I always pay for my own meal. You’re not [controlling] what I do.”
@gnomirae I’m still in shock. ??
♬ original sound – Gnomi Rae ?
The Mary Sue reached out to Gnomi via Instagram direct message.
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