‘What’s a dating mistake you’ll never make again?’ – 23 romantic lessons learned the hard way

When you’re looking for love, it’s rare that the first person you go out for dinner or a drink with ends up being The One. You have to kiss a few frogs before you find your prince or princess.

But, if the answers to a recent post on the AskReddit page are anything to go by, it seems that the experience of snogging one of those pond-dwelling creatures makes people less likely to repeat the same errors.

User Ill_Brilliant_5529 asked…

‘What’s a dating mistake you’ll never make again?’

And lots of once-bitten, twice-shy relationship-seekers chipped in with their thoughts, like these…

1.

‘Getting back with someone after the first breakup. Once is always enough.’
–NotAFed1991

2.

‘Ignoring red flags just because I really liked the person. Chemistry can be strong, but it doesn’t make incompatibility disappear.’
–Sure-Rate3

3.

‘Allowing clear disrespect to slide because I want to give them the benefit of the doubt.’
–Quirky_Bug_5621

4.

‘Don’t fall in love with potential. Fall in love with who they are in this moment. Pay attention and trust their actions not their word.’
–thoriginals_wife

5.

‘Trying to change someone.’
–Ill_Brilliant_5529

6.

‘Considering intentions over actions too many times. Someone’s late once because they got stuck in traffic? Cool, life happens.

‘Someone’s always late and it’s because they were getting ready/on the phone/doing something else while leaving you waiting? They may not intend it, but they’re valuing their time over yours and it’ll show up elsewhere. They’re selfish, even if they don’t mean to be.’
–Defiant-Pizza8207

7.

‘Leading with your wallet. So many men lead with their wallet but you don’t actually have to when a girl finds you attractive. I always lead with the fact that I’m broke. If she is not attracted to your face, this will be a deal breaker.’
–Joseph_Kreider

8.

‘I’ll never again play silly games such as “wait X amount of time to respond”. So dumb.’
–LegitimateSong7925

9.

‘I learned very quickly that for firstst dates you should not do a fine dining expensive dinner, or some big time consuming activity.

‘There’s a high chance both of you will be completely uninterested in each other and want to leave after 10 minutes. So don’t put yourself in a position to be stuck with them for hours, or spending a couple hundred dollars.’
–beehappy32

10.

‘Someone who isn’t in to sports. Me, my friends, my family, are all into them just way too much to date someone who doesn’t enjoy the festivities. At least a little bit. Never again.’
–FreshHotPoop

11.

‘Taking back a cheater.’
–RottenLychee

12.

‘Pursuing someone if they don’t show enthusiasm towards me. If the first date doesn’t end with you excited to see me again, I’m not interested in a second date.’
–purebredcrab