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By Maria Morava
Relationships Reporter
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Dating burnout is on the rise—and it takes as little as one online horror story to understand why.
In a TikTok video, one woman described how her first date took a disturbing turn when a man, after revealing he was sick enough to be vomiting, reacted with a "hissy fit" after she refused to kiss him. With the clip, Alex Farrington, 32, sparked conversation about dating boundaries and consent. Farrington spoke to Newsweek about the disturbing experience, and what it says to her about the modern dating landscape.
In the video, Farrington described how a seemingly pleasant date over a glass of wine devolved quickly. Her date had told her he had been vomiting and nearly didn't come.
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Given this, and her upcoming flight, Farrington naturally wanted to avoid getting sick. As she and her date began walking by the river after a drink, "he immediately tries to kiss me," she said in the clip. She pulled away, but his response was dismissive: "Oh, but I'm not sick like that."
Things escalated, and he then physically attempted a kiss on the neck by grabbing Farrington's turtleneck. When she stepped back and firmly told him "no," the man had an unexpected reaction. He wasn't apologetic, but petulant.
Farrington said his behavior mimicked a child's tantrum: "He starts to walk slower and walk behind me … and then he starts walking faster than me all of the sudden, and he's walking maybe 5 or 6 feet in front of me, like a full blown child having … a hissy fit." Seeing her chance at the next block, Farrington turned and walked away, ditching him without looking back.
'No Red Flags'
Speaking to Newsweek, Farrington reflected on the sudden shift in her evening.
"My first thought was, 'Thank god we were in public when he showed [me] who he really is,'" she said. What she found particularly unsettling was the contrast with the first part of the date. "Honestly, the scariest part of this entire experience was just how good the first part of the date was. He was attentive, respectful … wasn't too touchy … the first part of the date had no red flags.
"That's what so many people don't understand—they assume that men that behave like this are easy to spot. They're not," Farrington added.
While she didn't feel especially unsafe—"his behavior was that of a child, and it'd be silly to be afraid of a child," she said—she knew of the situation's inherent danger.
"I recognize it was absolutely an unsafe situation," Farrington concluded.
She said she attributes such refusals to accept "no" to systemic issues. "It's sexism and misogyny. They don't value or respect anyone that's not a man," she said, adding that societal norms can empower men to act this way without consequence. Farrington said her date remains on the dating app where she met him, despite her reports.
Viewers overwhelmingly supported Farrington, condemning the man's actions.
"Good job not falling for the manipulative tantrum," one person wrote.
"It seems like he was using the sick excuse in case the date didn't go well and he wanted to be able to leave early," another posted. "But, it went well, and he didn't think you'd remember that detail/lie he told!"
Despite Farrington's initial draw to the man, his behavior as the night went on proved that sometimes charm can mask something more dangerous.
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