I went on a dinner date last night and it ended up being the first and last.
He was a nice guy, had his life together, and the conversation was fine. But something small at the end told me a lot more than anything we talked about.
When the bill came, it was $118. He tipped $6.That just didn’t sit right with me.
Our server wasn’t amazing, but they weren’t bad either. They did their job, and like anyone else, they might’ve been dealing with something we couldn’t see. For me, how someone treats people in those moments matters.
I’m not expecting perfection or even a specific percentage every time but I do pay attention to kindness, generosity, and basic respect. Tipping, to me, reflects that.
It’s less about the money and more about what it represents.
That moment showed me we probably don’t share the same values and that’s okay. It just means we’re not the right match.
Because in the end, how you treat strangers says a lot about who you are.
