Millennials are killing the dinner date

nypost ^

[ChicagoConservative27]

In recent years, somewhere between endless Tinder swipes and countless OkCupid matches, the dinner date has fallen by the wayside.

As online dating surges in popularity, few millennials have the time, money, or desire to sit with a stranger over a long meal. Only 7 in 10,000 messages in a recent OkCupid IAC survey suggested “grabbing some dinner” and a somewhat less scientific survey this reporter conducted of several dozen actively dating 20-somethings found that dinner has become a highly taboo first date. Last month, Moody’s Investors Service slashed its operating-profit growth forecast for the restaurant sector. (This appears to complement another trend noted by market researcher NPD Group that suggests 57 percent of meals in the US are eaten alone.)

There’s good reason why people don’t want to sit through a meal with a stranger for an hour, or often longer. One singleton this reporter spoke to called it her “worst nightmare,” and another said the idea of sitting through an unspecified number of hours of food, drinks or dessert makes her anxious. A recent article in Cosmopolitan detailed “Why First-Date Dinners Suck,” listing similar reasons: The date category is antiquated, the time frame of the event is too long if there is no chemistry, and eating is too “intimate.”

[Blue Jays]

You handled that very well.
You successfully set the tone to put things on a realistic path.
Good for you.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks. I didn’t want to clamp down that night, but after $150.00 I had to tell her no more.

We still go out in groups as friends.

I don’t pay for anything now. I will check that, because I have a friend who likes her and pays for her meals and some other things.

If I’m in the mood, I’ll help him a bit. Doesn’t happen very often.

[KC_Conspirator]

You have to remember that does not make you a bad person. There are some manipulative women out there who do that sort of thing. Sadly I had a few bad experiences years ago similar to yours, so its simple dates early.

[JoeFromSidney]

Yes. I met my wife on line . We've now been married sixteen years.

[AFret.]

Why not a lunch date to break the ice?

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We used to call that a “nooner.”

[Maine Mariner]

LOL!