A recent YouGov study showed that a whopping one in nine women (11%) say they have been a victim of drink spiking. Another 8% say a family member has been spiked, while a further 12% have friends who have had drinks spiked in the past. In total, a third of women have either been spiked themselves or know someone who has. However, researchers agree that there’s still not enough data on the subject.
The tragic stories about women becoming unsuspecting victims of drink spiking horrify the press time and again. No wonder so many women don’t feel safe when out and about with strangers. And first dates are no exception.
“So I've (21F) been getting back into dating lately. I met this one guy (27M) off Bumble and we hit it off. We went on our first date on Thursday,” the Redditor u/GamerGurl3980 wrote in a post on r/TwoXChromosomes. She said they spent an awesome 4-5 hours together, but when it was time for her to use the bathroom, the Redditor felt reluctant to leave her drink unattended. But then, the date took a pleasantly surprising turn.
Image credits: Jack Finnigan (not the actual photo)
Bored Panda reached out to the author of this story who said that drink spiking during dates is a huge problem. The woman said that there were hundreds of comments from women mentioning their stories of being drugged on first dates, at the club, or just with people they know.
“It happens all around the world. There are literally inventions meant to protect your cup like the ‘Cup Condom’ on Amazon. We shouldn't have to go to these lengths to protect ourselves. It is way more common then men think,” she explained.
When asked what was her reaction to her date telling the bartender to hold their drinks while she went to the bathroom, the woman said she was shocked. “Like freaking out in my mind like ‘no way this guy went to these lengths to make me feel safe?!’”
She recounted: “I went to the bathroom afterwards and was literally freaking out in the stall lmao. I loved it. It made me feel safer. Although, I still was cautious because some men try to give women a false sense of security. So it wasn't like I was head over heels for him, but I was thoroughly impressed!”
Image credits: Maks Styazhkin (not the actual photo)
However, the author said that the other day, the two parted ways due to incompatibility. “I want kids in the future. He said he doesn't. I tried being honest with him saying that I was concerned that things would end between us (which I didn't want to happen, I wanted to continue getting to know him since things were going great) because of him not wanting kids,” the woman said.
“He reacted disrespectfully and was very rude. I confronted him telling him that he can't speak to me that way and it was like he was offended? He was very adamant about ending things afterwards and unmatched me on Bumble,” she recounted.
Later, the author clarified a few details of her story
According to the author of this post, the guy ended up being a jerk. “Unfortunately. Now, my lesson I would share is, for one, let someone prove to you over time with their actions that they genuinely are good people. Don't fall for first impressions.”
“Secondly, age does not mean maturity or wisdom. This man was 6 years older than me. A lot of the comments in my post were about the concern for the age gap because he would be 'wiser' than me. When in the end, things ended due to his immaturity,” the woman concluded.
