Chicago Woman Says the City’s Dating Scene Is “Worse Than You Think” After a Date Where Nearly Everything He Told Her Turned Out to Be Untrue

A Chicago woman’s TikTok video about a disappointing first date is drawing attention for its blunt take on dating in the city, which she describes as “worse than you think.”

In the video, which runs about three minutes, a woman identified as Paige speaks directly to the camera in a red shirt, gesturing as she recounts a date she said she went on reluctantly.

“I unfortunately went on another date last night just to see, you know, if things change. News flash, they’re worse,” Paige said.

She said the two had hit it off while messaging, so she agreed to meet him.

“I had good banter with this guy, so I thought, what’s the hurt? I’ll go get a drink with him tonight. He wants to buy me dinner. I didn’t defrost any meat. This is fine. It will be okay,” she said.

Paige said the man she met did not match what she had been told.

“First off, I thought this man was 5 foot 11 and in tech sales, and I also thought that he had just moved to Chicago from Atlanta sometime in April,” she said.

She paused to address her date directly.

“I’m also so worried he’s gonna see this. Just so you know, you are a nice guy. Maybe this is just helpful for you,” she said.

The first surprise came early in the evening, Paige said.

“So I sit down, and if I find out in about 5 minutes he quit his job a month ago just ’cause he didn’t like it, you know what, that’s fine. I just didn’t know that. I thought that you were gainfully employed in tech sales, so that is confusing, and he told me he was currently looking for other jobs. Okay, cool, I breeze past it. People do that, whatever,” she said.

Paige said fitness was a firm requirement on her dating profile.

“On my profile, I also make it very clear I’m looking for somebody who is active and goes to the gym. Active, somebody who wants to be active every single day. That is very important to me. I need to be with somebody who also cares about being active and their health. Non negotiable,” she said.

She said his account changed once they met in person.

“He tells me he is over text, but when we sit down at dinner, he tells me that he hasn’t been to the gym in two months and he had fallen off from running. He ran yesterday and today, but before that he hadn’t ran for months,” Paige said. “I’m like, okay, I made it so clear that the active part was non negotiable, but that’s fine. You just seem like you do it when you feel good.”

The conversation then turned to volunteering.

“Also, he started telling me how he volunteers, and I go, ‘That’s awesome. Where do you volunteer?’ He said, ‘I volunteer at Grow Grocer,'” she said.

Paige explained the store for viewers outside the city.

“If you’re not from Chicago, that’s like a local grocery store. It’s kind of like a half convenience store, half grocery. It’s honestly a convenience store. They have some groceries,” she said.

She said the explanation did not add up.

“And I go, ‘Why does Grow Grocer need volunteers?’ I’m thinking they have like a philanthropy program, and he goes, ‘It’s because I, you know, I can do it for the extra money.’ I go, ‘Oh, so you don’t volunteer there. You work there.’ He said, ‘Well, yeah, I work there like four hours a day, every day.’ Like, oh, that’s cool,” Paige said.

She stressed that his job was not the issue.

“I am not mad about what he does for a living, what he’s doing right now. I just thought something completely different,” she said.

His height was another discrepancy, she said.

“Then also, I’m 5 foot 5. He was definitely my height. I was wearing platform shoes, so I was maybe like 5 foot 6, maybe 5 foot 6 and a half yesterday. Definitely my height. Definitely my height,” Paige said.

She closed the video with a verdict on her return to dating.

“So anyway, that was my experience dipping my toe back in the dating pool. I thought that, you know, that would have been harmless. All he would have to do is not lie about what he told me. And unfortunately, they do be still lying. They still be doing that. So, yeah,” she said.

@paige.playsnext

safe to say I will not be going on anymore dates! i will say this guy was very respectful and nice, just the truth would’ve been helpful lol #storytime #dating #chicago

♬ original sound – paige like a piece of paper