The simple act of buying someone a drink at a bar can be loaded with meaning and intent depending on who’s buying and for whom. When one man on TikTok bought a drink for a woman, they clearly didn’t understand their exchange the same way. He then filmed himself, with someone's help, taking the drink back, sparking a divisive online discussion.
Is it fair for a gift to place obligations on the recipient? Is it right to accept a gift you have no intention of reciprocating? These are some of the questions raised by the man’s behavior. But first, let’s dig into the story itself.
On the one hand, the greatest gift is one given freely. On the other, gratitude is a virtue!
These two people clearly didn't see eye-to-eye when they exchanged her phone number for his drink
Buying drinks for strangers at the bar can be a risky proposition for all involved
Any dating advice website worth its salt is going to have an article attempting to grasp the intricacies of buying romantic interests alcoholic drinks at the bar. The way they approach this question can tell you a lot about the page’s editorial team and their target audience, but the fact that there isn’t always common agreement suggests that this may indeed be a tough part of dating to navigate.
The internet is rife with accusations from both men and women of wrongdoing on both sides. Men accuse women of feigning interest in their advances to tease free drinks out of them, while women point at the dangers they face from men they don’t know and resent the thought of becoming obligated to give men their time and attention.
We can’t say for sure what happened here, but in the caption to his video, the man claims that the woman engaged him in a conversation, showed interest, and even gave him her phone number before he bought her a drink. When she got it, she turned her back and went to another guy on the dance floor, prompting this man’s response. Who do you think was in the wrong?
Some people praised the man for responding with what they saw as a power move
Others accused him of having unfair expectations after the exchange he'd had with the woman
