Man takes Hinge match on a date. He picks up the bill—and gets blocked. He wasn’t the only victim: ‘Lexi just meal prepping’

A man says he thought a first date with a match on Hinge went pretty well. They talked, laughed, had drinks, and discussed seeing one another again.

But minutes after picking up the bill, Chicolo787 (@chicolo787) says his date blocked him.

This alone made him suspicious. But he says things got stranger when one of his friends matched with the same woman, referred to as Lexi, the following week. They ended up suffering the same fate.

In a TikTok filmed from his car, the creator recounts meeting “Lexi” off the app at a restaurant. He says the two hit it off quickly.

“She was really cool; she had [a] cool vibe,” he adds. His video has since amassed more than 620,000 views.

The Date Goes Well

According to the creator, nothing about the date suggested Lexi wasn't interested.

“I order her food, and I order her drinks,” he says, “and we talk and talk and talk and talk … We're laughing, we're joking, we're doing a lot of things that seem really cute to me.”

He adds, “This really might be it.”

When the server brought over their bill, however, Chicolo787 says he noticed a red flag. According to him, Lexi folded her arms and began audibly clearing her throat. He says that she clearly expected him to pick up the check. He ultimately brushed off the gesture and paid.

On the way out of the restaurant, he says Lexi told him that she had really enjoyed the date and that she definitely wanted to do it again. He says he felt the same way.

He Realizes She Blocked Him

Chicolo787 says before their date, Lexi had handed him her vape because it didn't fit in her pocket. Once he was in his car, he tried to text her to tell her she'd forgotten it. Then he realized he couldn't.

“That [woman] blocked [me],” he says.

He theorizes that she only went out with him to snag a free meal.

Of course, getting blocked after a single date doesn't prove that this was Lexi's intention. But something happened the next week that made him more convinced.

A friend texted him to say that he was about to go out to dinner with the very same woman. Chicolo787 warned his friend about what had happened to him. Still, his friend went through with the date.

His friend paid for the dinner, just like Chicolo787. His friend got blocked, too.

The whole ordeal convinced Chicolo787 to get off dating apps altogether.

“Go out and meet people like we used to back in the day,” he says.

‘Girls Gotta Eat'

Some viewers jokingly praised Lexi's frugality, with one commenter writing, “Lexi just meal prepping.”

Another added, “Haters gonna hate, Lexi smart in this economy lol.”

A third wrote, “Lexi said groceries are expensive.”

Others couldn't believe Chicolo787's friend still took her on a date.

“He weird for still taking her out,” wrote one viewer.

“The crazy part is your friend still took her out,” wrote another.

Others proposed another scenario: Maybe Lexi was just being polite. They suggested she didn't actually have a good time with either man. “Maybe she just didn't like you guys after the dinner,” one commenter noted.

@chicolo787

Is Dating Someone for a Free Meal Actually a Thing?

Apparently, going on a date just to score a free meal is a thing, and it has a name: A “foodie call.”

According to a DatingAdvice survey from earlier this year, 30% of U.S. adults have accepted a date for the purpose of getting a free meal or drinks.

A 2019 study in Social Psychological and Personality Science backs that claim up, finding that 23% to 33% of heterosexual women surveyed had done a “foodie call” before.

It's worth noting that the researchers in this study cautioned that their samples weren't representative of the broader population. The findings don't necessarily mean a third of women date just to get free food and drinks.

And whether this is what happened is impossible to know from one man's account. Still, two men being blocked by the same Hinge match immediately after paying for dinner casts doubt on Lexi's intentions.

Either way, Chicolo787 says next time, he'd rather meet someone the old-fashioned way.

“Whatever streak you're on right now,” he tells Lexi, “you gotta stop doing that [expletive].”

Subplot News reached out to Chicolo787 via TikTok direct message.

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