Hey potatoes! First time poster! So I (27F) recently went on a date with this guy (27M) that I met through a dating app.
Through text, we got along pretty well, both having the same nerdy interests like anime, comics and video games, and also both enjoyed going to the gym. When our schedules finally matched, we grabbed a coffee.
There were two main “icks” I had on this date with him.
The first: we were talking about work (he works for his dad’s company- think manual labor job) and he was saying that he and his sister were going to take over and run the company from their dad when he retires- the sister doing the books while Date did the manual labor part.
He made a comment like “Yeah, my sister would do the books. Sigh. I’m just not smart enough for THAT.” Then made this “welp” face (lips twisted to the side, looking sideways, slight shrug). It was obvious he was fishing for a compliment, and being the (recovering) people pleaser I am, I said “oh I’m sure that’s not true.” But very “pick me boy” energy.
Later we were talking about anime and ones we like. He brought up one from the early 2000’s that was a silly spoof anime (basically one that made fun of other romance anime and that didn’t take itself too seriously).
It’s a comedy/romance/slice of life anime that is a long time for favorite for most but could NOT be made today. It’s one of my favorites and one of my comfort anime. I expressed this to him, excitedly telling him how much I love it. He makes a face, and says “but it’s trash.”
At first I thought it was playful banter, which I’m all for. I gasp and tell him no way, it’s awesome, granted, it couldn’t be made today, and there’s nothing we can do about the twins (iykyk) but it’s such a long time favorite for a lot of people, so much so they sell merch for it STILL at Hot Topic and/or Box Lunch.
He still just kept making disgusted and other faces and kept saying how trash it was. I tell him some of my favorite memories associated with the show, how I grew up watching it, still watch it when I want something funny, etc and he still just kept saying it was trash. I was just laughing, and told him “well it’s cause you’re not the target audience!” To which he said “no, obviously I’m not.” (And yet he still watched it at one point and HE is the one that brought it up?)
Eventually I realized we were at an impasse, so I said “we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one!” He makes a snarky face and goes “Well, disagree, but okay.”
After, I was telling my friend about it, jokingly saying that it was a “red flag that he doesn’t like that show” and my friend told me “no, it’s a red flag that he kept saying the show was trash and bagging on the show when you kept expressing how much you loved it. Even if he doesn’t like it, he didn’t have to keep bagging on it like that.” I realized she had a point. If he consistently put down a silly show that I adored over and over, who’s to say he wouldn’t do it for something else?
I’ve been hesitant to go on another date with him because of this, but I’m newer to the “dating” field (been a while since my last relationship) so am I overreacting?
Some help and advice would be greatly appreciated!