A woman is going viral on TikTok after sharing her experience on “the shortest first date ever” — one she tells PEOPLE all about in an exclusive interview
Maggie Smith explains she’s been dating “on and off for over a decade.”
“The dating scene is tough for everyone, but it feels more superficial than ever in recent years,” adds the Alabama native, 32. “I have met people organically, on the apps, and my most recent ex…well, I met him on Twitter/X.”
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Smith says she began sharing her dating stories after she came out of a “toxic relationship” over the summer, at a time when she “felt really alone.”
“My friends shared about their very similar stories and I realized that many of us are in the same boat,” she says. “I didn’t want anyone else to feel as alone as I did, so I made my first [TikTok] post about my cheating ex-boyfriend and the lies he told me.”
Since then, she’s continued posting — both about that relationship and about her experiences on dating apps — including a recent date that she called “the shortest first date ever,” detailed in a now-viral TikTok post.
The beginning of the video shows Smith in her bathroom, with her hair done and makeup on as she tells the camera, “I put makeup on just for this date so it better go well.”
Maggie Smith.Courtesy of Maggie Smith
Courtesy of Maggie Smith
The footage then cuts to a visibly upset Smith in her car, telling the camera, “It did not go well. Truthfully, it lasted less than two minutes. I walked up, he gave me a hug, and said, ‘Are you hungry? Let’s go inside.’ "
“We went inside, he said, ‘Actually, can you step outside for a minute?’ And I stepped back outside, and he said, ‘I’m not trying to offend you, but I’m just not feeling it.’ So I walked to my car, and came back home,” she adds. “Dating when you’re fat sucks.”
Speaking to PEOPLE about the experience, Smith says she was “mortified,” adding that the man cut the date short in front of a group of strangers.
“In the moment, I was mortified. He brought me outside in front of a group of people to say it and my mind went blank,” she says. “I just said ‘okay,’ and started walking to my car in shock.”
She continues: “As I walked away, he felt the need to say, ‘I’m sorry, it’s your weight.’ I didn’t ask, because I didn’t care. I didn’t know him. I wasn’t heartbroken, just embarrassed.”
The “shortest date ever” experience, she says, will hopefully open up a conversation about how to treat others, even if they aren’t one’s physical “type.”
“Preferences are reasonable, but I think there is a way to treat others with dignity,” she says, adding: “I don’t think he was trying to be unkind, but it certainly felt like a low blow in the moment.”
Had she been able to live the moment over, she says she wouldn’t have walked back to her car but instead, “walked back inside and gotten dinner, because I definitely forgot to eat dinner altogether.”
“But I don’t regret not saying anything. He had wasted enough of my time at that point and I don’t think he deserved the validation of me asking questions or responding,” she says.
Saying she’s looking for a partner who is “kind, honest and thoughtful … and, of course, someone who thinks I’m funny,” Smith adds: “Ultimately, I’ve spent this year falling in love with myself again, and if someone isn’t able to love me the way I love myself, it’s a pass.”
source: people.com