Get off your phone! Here are the biggest first date icks, according to Vancouverites
Let’s face it, going on a first date is awkward. You’re just getting to know someone and none of us usually know what we’re getting ourselves into.
Whether you’re going out with a mutual friend or someone from Hinge, you never know what to expect. Sadly, the process of meeting someone new doesn’t get much easier once you’ve been on quite a few first dates.
But, one thing does become clearer once you’ve been on more first dates… red flags.
We went around Vancouver to find out what the biggest first-date icks are, according to locals, and here’s what they said.
@freshdailyvancouver Watch out for these red flags on your next first date🚩🚩🚩 #vancouver #vancouverbc #britishcolumbia #yvr #604 #vancity #richmondbc #kamloops #kelowna #Canada #vancouverdating ♬ Swear By It – Chris Alan Lee
Talking about exes
When you’re on a first date, it’s likely that another relationship or situationship didn’t work out. That doesn’t mean your date needs to know about it.
Vancouverite Elie shared that speaking about your ex is never a good sign because it shows you’re “still thinking about them.”
“Talking about exes, that’s a pretty big red flag,” he said. “You start bringing them up out of nowhere, and it’s not even a topic of conversation. [That’s] pretty bad.”
An even bigger red flag than having your date speak about their ex is if they have photos of them. Another Vancouverite, Mike, shared how he went to a date’s house that had photos of their ex all over the walls. Yikes.
“Showing up to someone’s house to drop off their bag and see a couple of photos all over the walls,” Mike said when asked what the biggest first date red flag is.
“I pretended I never saw it, but then there was no second date.”
Being on their phone
Paying attention to your date is the bare minimum. So, when someone’s on their phone the entire time, it’s going to give you the ick.
Ciara and Paul have been together 20 years and both shared how going on your phone on a first date would be a major red flag.
“If they’re checking their phone at all, huge red flag. Like, if you can’t maintain attention with somebody you just met for a short period of time, that’s definitely a get-out-of-there kind of vibe,” Paul said.
Ciara agreed, saying that a red flag is “anything that kind of causes a disconnection, so say people being on their phone a lot.”
Dmytro Zinkevych/Shutterstock
Talking about themselves
Being on your phone is bad, but what’s even worse is when your date talks non-stop about themselves.
Local Kevin said how someone only speaking about themselves shows that they probably have an “ego.”
“Not giving you a chance to kind of have, you know, a conversation,” he said was his biggest first date red flag.
“You kind of want to get to know people, and you hope that they want to get to know you as much as they’re getting to know themselves. It’s just like, ‘What are you doing? Why are you even talking about yourself so much?'”
Surface-level conversations
While first dates are usually the place for small talk to start learning about the other person, Vancouverite Rukshan shared that he actually finds it a red flag.
“If a person is talking about the basic stuff like, “How are you? What do you do for work?” Like, general stuff, that will be a turnoff,” he said.
Instead, Rukshan would prefer deep conversations.
“I would be mostly into a person who has deep conversations or talk[s] about business, new ideas, or like what’s happening in the world,” he said. “That would be more interesting, rather than what I do.”
ESstock/Shutterstock
Being afraid to eat in front of each other
Aside from deep conversations, Rukshan also said that someone needs to be the real them on a first date. For him, that means not being afraid to eat.
When asked about his first date icks, he said, “a person who would be shy to eat in front of me [on] the first date.”
Rukshan said that you shouldn’t be afraid to get messy and have fun on the first date.
“I’m a foodie, and if you come meet me and like try to wipe your face, eat nicely, that will be boring. Be you, be the real you like it’s the first date I’m trying to understand you,” he said.
What’s your biggest red flag on a first date? Let us know in the comments below.
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