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A woman looks annoyed over coffee. Two people grab the check.

You know that moment on a date where you feel you're totally vibing? They say something funny, or they get your super obscure joke. There's a sparkle in both of your eyes when one of you says, "No way! Breaking Bad is my favorite show too!" Then the check comes, and what happens next is totally unexpected.

That's what happened when a 29-year-old woman was set up by a mutual friend with a 31-year-old guy. According to a story on Yahoo! Life(via People Magazine), they met for coffee, laughed and bonded, and when the (for some reason) $100 check came, he paused and said, "Is it alright if you pay for this?" Now that wasn't the bad part. She actually claims she had every intention of splitting the check and wasn't too flustered that he asked her to pay.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com, CBC Vancouver

She claims, however, "Right after I paid, he got this huge grin on his face and said, ‘Congratulations, you passed the test! You're not a gold digger.'"

She was not pleased and told him as much. “I told him that I'm not his ex and he has no right to treat me like I'm guilty until proven innocent. I also said he’s not some prize that I need to pass tests for.”

She then told their mutual friend she wasn't interested and blocked him. But, unfortunately, he started making fake accounts and even tried to hit her up on LinkedIn, and from there—things got a bit scary.

She explains, "At first, it was stuff like ‘I just want to explain,’ then ‘You’re not like other girls.' Then it turned into full paragraphs about how I’m ‘punishing’ him for protecting himself and how he’s the one who feels betrayed.'"

She posted this story on the popular subreddit page, r/AITAH (Am I the A-hole), and it went completely viral. And although she deleted her original post, Redditors are not done discussing the topic. Thousands have commented, with tons rolling in every hour—and they have lots of different angles.

First, the stalking aspect. One commenter warns, "The fact that he is stalking you, contacting you through fake phone numbers and changed accounts is a huge red flag. Relationship tests are bad, but when you pass and you decide that the relationship test was also a test of them and they failed, and they don't give up, gives bunny in the pot vibes."

Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction, stalking, movies, relationshipsGlenn Close's character in Fatal Attraction.Giphy Paramount Pictures

Some are concerned by his behavior, and one gives advice to stop "feeding him." "At this point, no response is better. If you respond to a pest, it just feeds the animals. Like a small kid who knows with certain people if they whine enough or throw a big enough tantrum, they will get their way. You don't want him to think it just takes persistence and OP will respond. Hell no! OP should not put any energy or response to his behavior."

More than one person points out the irony that HE was testing HER and suggests she tell him "he failed the stalker test multiple times."

Many agree that she is not, in fact, the a-hole—though not all. One assures her, "Wonderful! It was a great test for you to realize what a POS he really is!! Stay away from him!! You definitely dodged that bullet!!"

A few question why a coffee date cost 100 dollars. "I wanna know what coffee shop y’all went to so I can avoid it because there’s no way in hell coffee and pastries cost $100." (It's later pointed out that the OP stated she was not in the U.S., so perhaps it's not actually in U.S. dollars.)

coffee, pastries, dating, latte, dateCoffee and pastries are displayed on a table. Photo by Vicky Gu on Unsplash

On a more serious note, this person breaks it down all in one place: "The problem is not that he tested her on a date… we constantly test the other person when dating to see if they are suitable long-term partners, women do this to men constantly even after marrying them. What’s good for one is good for the other… moving on since I actually have to preface THAT.

The real issue is two things… 1. He told her about the test afterward instead of noting her passing the test in his mind and moving on… 2. He is now stalking her when she was no longer interested… a major sign of weakness and low emotional health."

Others discuss how reasonable, healthy people go about money on dates. A comment on the Yahoo! story shares their way of dealing with finances: "My last lady friend and I had a great system for sharing expenses. If I invited her out to eat or a movie, I paid. If she invited me out for dinner, a play or other event, she paid. I did some different maintenance and repair around her house and she home-cooked me a nice meal. She made a standing offer to help me with some of my home improvements, including cleaning up the mess after the work. I've never asked her for a dime of her considerable money and she hasn't offered because I made it clear at the start that I can manage without anyone helping me. It worked for over ten years."

gold, money, golddigging, dating, gold diggerBars of gold are stacked side by side. Photo by Jingming Pan on Unsplash

And one has the perfect quip about how oftentimes, the person who thinks they're the biggest prize isn't quite that: "I’d bet money that he’s one of those men who accuses women of being gold diggers… when he’s got no gold."

A mechanic looks under a woman's car.

A video posted by a mechanic who goes by Tooey’s Garage on TikTok shows why it’s so important to listen to people who fear they are in danger. It’s also a great reminder that when you suspect something creepy is going on, tell someone about it.

It all started when a woman came to Tooey’s Garage because she thought her car had a tracker attached. "The customer stated that she suspected a tracker was in her vehicle and asked if we could take a look,” Tooey captioned the video.

Apple AirTags and Tiles allow people to attach a small tag to their important items (car keys, wallet, luggage, cars, etc.) to track them if they get lost. The tags report back to an app that allows you to find them on a map. If these items are stolen, the owners can make the tag chirp so the thieves know they’re being tracked.


However, people can use these tags for nefarious reasons, such as stalking people by placing them on their cars. This allows them to know wherever their victim may be whenever they leave the house.

airtags, tiles, tracker devideTile tracker devices.via Dennis Sylvester Hurd/Flickr

The woman who came to Tooey’s Garage said she got an alert on her phone that an “unidentifiable tile” was following her around. So Tooey searched the inside of her car for hours and found nothing. Then he put the car up on a rack and searched the underside, where he found a tracker wrapped in duct tape and attached to the vehicle in a magnetic hide-a-key box.

The woman told Tooey that the person she suspected was stalking her had put trackers on other people’s cars as well.

@tooeys.garage

Customer stated that she suspected a tracker was in her vehicle, and asked if we could take a look. We looked inside 1st then put it on a lift once one opened up. The tile tracker was attached under the car in a magnetic key box. #creepy #creeper #stalker #mechanicsoftiktok #mechanic #fypage #gethelp @Life360 @Tile #fixed #life360

“If you feel like someone might be creeping on you and stalking you, maybe see if your local shop can take a look. Hopefully, they won’t think you’re crazy, but it does actually happen,” Tooey said at the end of the video.

People in the video's comments praised the mechanic for taking the woman’s concerns seriously and doing whatever he could to find the tracker. “Y'all are awesome for not only believing her but also helping her!” one commenter wrote. “Thank you for believing her AND being so thorough!” another added.

One commenter made a great point: trackers should be traceable back to the purchaser to prevent stalking. “The owner should be able to have that device tracked back to the purchaser and have them charged with stalking!” they wrote.

Tooey’s video has been seen over 3 million times, and it’s an important warning for people to get their cars looked at immediately if they have even the slightest suspicion that they’re being tracked. It’s also a great example for mechanics to take action if someone comes into their shop looking for a tracker because they could be in great danger.

Kudos to Tooey for going out of his way to help the woman by spending much of his workday trying to locate the tracker. Without his help, the situation could have turned tragic.