His attempt to look mysterious outside the cafe on a first date backfired so badly — the cops got involved
'A man with zero mysteries... whose most interesting hobby is watching documentaries about bridge construction.'
What’s the strangest thing someone has done while trying to impress a first date? Maybe you have exaggerated your hobbies, pretended to like wine you can't possibly pronounce, or casually mentioned a trip you took five years ago as if it were last month. One man decided to step it up and hide around a corner to seem "mysterious." Instead, he ended up in a police report. Posting his story under the username u/Amazing-Resource9878 on Reddit, the man shared how a small attempt at intrigue spiraled into something much bigger. The post has garnered 13k upvotes so far.
In his post, the man explained how he met his date, Elena, through mutual friends and immediately felt outmatched. She was, as he described, "an interior designer" who "travels, reads books, has opinions about wine." In contrast, he admitted, "I eat pasta three times a week and consider that a personality." Before the date, a friend advised him to "be a little mysterious" and not reveal everything at once because "women love mystery." "I, a man with zero mysteries and whose most interesting hobby is watching documentaries about bridge construction, decided this was excellent advice," he wrote.
They agreed to meet outside a cafe at 7 pm, and he arrived at 6:50 pm. Standing near the entrance suddenly felt too obvious, so he chose to wait around the corner and step out once she texted. At 7:01, Elena messaged, "I'm here, where are you?" As he started walking out, a woman from a nearby building ran outside yelling, "He's there, around the corner, I saw him!" While he knew he was simply waiting for a date, the neighbor had found him suspicious and already called the police twice. Instead of greeting Elena, he walked straight into two officers, with his date standing alone on the sidewalk.
"Explained the situation for approximately 15 minutes. One officer was taking notes. The other was trying not to laugh and visibly losing," he said in the post. When asked if he had been hiding in order "to be mysterious," he admitted that he had. At that point, the second officer, who had been trying to stay composed, laughed out loud. They were eventually allowed to leave, though the neighbor continued watching with what he described as "absolute righteous fury."
People often form impressions about others with only a part of the picture. A study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that observers routinely make social judgments based on visible cues like a person’s posture or appearance, even when the situation is unclear. The research showed that when context is missing, people tend to fill in the blanks with assumptions about intent or character. In other words, ordinary behavior can easily be misread as something more meaningful.
Elena, who had said nothing during the exchange, finally broke the silence and told him, "Well. You're definitely mysterious." Despite the awkward beginning, they still went into the cafe. He abandoned the strategy and talked openly about his interest in bridge construction documentaries, and Elena listened for nearly 40 minutes and asked questions. He later shared that they had a third date scheduled. "The neighbor still eyes me suspiciously every time I walk past. I nod at her. She does not nod back. I hope the officer who laughed is doing well," he concluded. Readers had plenty to say about the unhinged first date. u/Extension_Ok wrote, "I hope one day your best man will tell this story at your wedding. Pro tip for the wedding: don't be mysterious." u/MCBusStop added, "Well, the next step is obvious. You have to rob the building. The neighbor may know you did it, but the cops won't believe them."
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