Posted on 02/23/2010 7:10:06 AM PST by PJ-Comix
I was reading dating advice for women from men at Cosmo and came across a rather amusing letter to "the guy guru who answers your most pressing sex and love questions." The letter is from a woman who is upset that a guy used a coupon to buy her dinner:
I went out for dinner with this guy, and it was great — we got along well, and there was a definite spark. But when it came time to pay, he pulled out a coupon. I'm hardly a princess, but that totally killed it for me. Am I being too hard on him?
It was unquestionably a boneheaded maneuver on his part, but yes, cutting him loose on that one faux pas sounds extreme. There are factors to weigh. For one, how old is the dude? If he's still in school or graduated recently, it could just be that he hasn't dated a lot and was short on funds — the economy isn't exactly booming right now. And to be fair, he didn't ask you to go dutch, so he did still take you out to dinner.
If he's older and financially stable, then you have more reason to be turned off. Any guy with a little experience should know that you don't flash coupons on a first date — you bide your time till the chick is in the bathroom, then feverishly shove it into the waiter's hand! In all seriousness, it could be a sign that he'd turn out to be a cheapskate.
>> If it was reversed and a woman pulled out a coupon to pay on a first date, would you dump her or just be glad she paid?
I’d be embarrassed that she paid at all. I’d dump myself.
>> On Valentine’s Day I took my wife to dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s. Total bill was 50 bucks. I used a free entree coupon to knock 15 bucks off the total bill and then paid for the rest with one of my infamous “stealth coupons” (don’t ask, research). Total cost to me: $0.00 and I was still able to tip the waiter $15.
I think there is a difference between coupoining with the wife, and couponing on the first date. First dates are about making her feel special, about courting her — doing it on the cheap isn’t really a good first impression. Save the coupon for several dates in.
SnakeDoc
I use coupons all the time and when my husband is with me and sees all the money we save at the grocery store etc. he gets very excited.
So one not only has to pick them up, take them to dinner but also has to make damn sure it is as expensive as it can be. A few nights at home alone may show her she is not that good a catch!
But on the flip side I would never use a coupon on a 1st couple of dates, it's tacky and shows you are cheap.
Giving women flowers is equally dumb, they die in a few days anyhow, but we guys still have to do it. Women are just the way they are and it's part of the mating game.
Same with coupons on the the 1st date, seriously how much could he have saved? $5 - $10? If the woman was even potentially worth it, he should have sucked it up and paid full price.
I had a guy behind me on line at the grocery store yesterday get real pissed off at me when I used coupons. First he expressed amazement at the fact that I paid a bill of over 48 bucks with just $1.34 by using coupons. Then he asked how I did it so I told him to check out one of the couponing websites and even gave him the address. Thennn.... he went ballistic. He started screaming that I was somehow “cheating the store.” I politely told him that the grocery store is FULLY REIMBURSED by the companies issuing the coupons but that didn’t satisfy him. I finally left him muttering some nonesense about how I was cheating “honest” people like him. Um...more like “clueless” people like him. Like its my fault he is paying full price? Oh, and I seriously doubt he would ever check the website I told him about online. It just went in one ear and out the other.
Female perspective:
I wouldn’t like to see that on the first date.
If he said when he asked me out, “Hey, I’ve got a coupon for such and such a place, would you like to join me and we’ll see how the food is?” or something to that effect it would be different.
Whipping a coupon out at the end of the 1st date kind of says to me that I wasn’t worth paying full price, and he’ll save that for another date.
I wouldn’t do that the first time I treated either.
Just my perspective.
Unless he’s a rich guy taking her to an awful restaurant because of the coupon, her calculations are way off.
I was formerly with a woman who usually REFUSED to eat anywhere we DIDN’T have a coupon for!
Those school coupon 2 for 1s are AWESOME. I probably saved at least 600-700 bucks this year alone from it.
A sensible man would intentionally use a coupon on the first date, to weed out the women who don’t appreciate the value of a dollar.
Iffin she’s purty, I’d bet her dates know all about it!
be frugal on the everyday things to afford the luxuries
i myself am a big coupon guy
i absolutely love them
i saved over a hundred bucks on food last month in coupons and up to around 35 this month
heck i even had a rebate coupon for free razors
would i whip one out on a first date? probably not but i really think this woman is superficial for dumping him over it.
Once dated someone named Judith Ann(e?) who gave me an Entertainment coupon book after maybe our 5th date, with the stipulation that I only use the coupons when out with her. Ever live in Boston?:)
I too have no problem with someone using a coupon. I’ve done it and would be impressed if my date did it. I’m there for the social interaction and not to see the mix of cash and non cash payments used.
That was my first thought.
Sounds like the guy has incipient dementia - the confusion and the inappropriate rage can be tell tale indicators.
Ahh the beauty of being married. A friend of mine sent his girl friend 4 doz roses on valentines day, I bought my wife one dozen for the table and 6 varied rose bushes to put under our bedroom window, we can smell them when they bloom and replenish the table.
Um...I save 50 bucks via couponing on my Valentine's Day dinner. BTW, you can buy $25 restaurant coupons for just a couple of bucks at Restaurant.com. A savings of $23 right there.
Around these parts we just refer to it as 'liberalism.'
I’d run away from a woman like that as if she had more venereal diseases than Paris Hilton’s dog.
OMG, what a total spoiled baitch.
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