This love story was over before it even began.
A New York City bachelor cancelled a date with a woman who told him she’d need to leave by 9:30 p.m. to attend a friend’s birthday party.
The man — who goes by the moniker “Murray Hill Guy” online — said he “dodged a bullet” in a viral X post that divided viewers.
“If you got this an hour before a first date on a Friday night, would you cancel?” he wrote beneath a screenshot of a text message from his prospective love interest.
“Hey,” the woman wrote at 5:58 p.m. “Excited to meet for a drink… Just wanted to say I have a friend’s birthday party at 9:30 p.m. so will have to wrap up before then! See you soon!”
Some said it was a “red flag” that she was putting a time constraint on the date and claimed that the fact she messaged shortly before the date suggested that she was bad with planning and time management.
Others said she had more nefarious motives.
“She’s just trying to kill time and maybe get a couple pregame drinks in before she does what she actually wants to do. No thanks,” one man stated.
“What’s most offensive about this is she says you have to ‘wrap up.’ So this is something she isn’t excited about, but something to endure,” another claimed.
However, many leapt to the woman’s defence, saying it was totally acceptable for her to have an “out” for an evening and that she was giving the man an ample amount of her time.
“Why would this bother you? You arranged a meetup drink. You aren’t entitled to her whole evening, ” one scolded.
“What she’s doing is giving herself an escape hatch. If she likes him, he’s going to that party with her. If not, there’s a polite ‘end of round’ bell,” a second theorized.
The man ended up responding to the woman, asking her to reschedule.
He shared a screenshot of her reply, which read: “It’s pretty rude to cancel on someone 30 minutes before! I took the time do my makeup, outfit, and get ready… I’m dating intentionally and 2 hours is more than enough time to get to know someone for a first date so not sure what you were thinking!”
She added: “I don’t think we’re on the same page here, so going to reject our rain check.”
