A seemingly ordinary encounter at a bar has exposed the unsettling underbelly of contemporary romance for one young woman, whose experience has resonated with thousands online.
From Brief Chat to Text Onslaught
A 28-year-old woman took to Reddit to share a story that began with a brief conversation at a bar. After chatting with a man, she gave him her number before heading home, unaware of the minefield of messages that awaited her the next morning. Her phone had filtered texts from unknown senders, so she didn't see any notifications until she woke up.
When she finally opened the messages, she discovered the man, who introduced himself as James, had spent the night sending a relentless stream of intense and unsolicited texts. All were sent within an 11-hour overnight window, and she had not replied to a single one.
Early Red Flags and Overnight Escalation
In her post, which garnered over nine thousand comments, the woman revealed there had been an uneasy moment even before she left the venue. As she input her number into his phone, she noticed he was holding a second device and that his contacts list appeared almost empty. "I asked if it was a work phone and if he wasn't really single," she wrote, acknowledging this as a red flag she chose to ignore at the time.
Attempting to give him the benefit of the doubt, she had casually suggested they might get breakfast. Instead, she woke to a barrage of texts that swung from defensive and self-aggrandising to strangely possessive.
In one of the first messages, James accused her of giving her number "for a confidence boost," before insisting he was "very single by choice," a "dominate savage" with "extremely high" standards. He described himself as "a real man" who "goes directly after what he wants," and addressed her as "little princess" despite their fleeting acquaintance.
He later claimed not to save numbers due to trust issues, then proceeded to instruct her to meet him at a specific time and location the following evening. As the night wore on, he continued messaging, adding a slew of unsolicited song recommendations to the one-sided conversation.
A Viral Reaction and Broader Dating Frustrations
"This is what dating has been like for me lately," the woman concluded, expressing her frustration with the current scene. Her post quickly went viral, with thousands of Reddit users reacting with shock and sharing similar stories.
One commenter joked, "My guy here had a full relationship, with a beginning, middle and end, entirely with himself." Another recalled a man telling her how beautiful their future children would be after just a one-hour date.
Many fixated on his use of "little princess," with one male user stating, "That's an insane thing to call a stranger. I physically cringed, and I'm a dude." Others saw a silver lining, with one noting, "At least he showed you upfront exactly how unhinged he is."
The exchange tapped into a widespread sentiment about the challenges of modern dating. One summarising comment read, "The bar for men seems to be in hell, and they're still finding ways to go lower," highlighting a broader frustration many women face while navigating today's dating culture.
