There is no shortage of odd or unexpected crowdfunders. We have had the guy who asked for $10 (£8) to make a potato salad (he raised $55,000) and the £8,000 raised to make a giant sculpture of Lionel Richie’s head.
But here’s a novel campaign: one woman has requested donations from strangers to make up the £90 she spent on travel to meet an awful Tinder date (she had met him once before) who told her she had put on weight.
Jade Savage set up the page to recoup the cost of a train journey from Leicester to Peterborough (she accurately called her date a “prick”). In fairness to Jade, her page is amusing: “Just want to make my £90 travel money back so I can buy wine and sticks of lard.”
Although I would certainly be annoyed if I had spent nearly a hundred quid to be insulted, I question the strategy of: a) spending so much money on a second date with someone from an app; and b) asking for cash back from strangers, which seems to be A Thing now.
Netflix binges, hilarious debriefs with friends and scrolling through pictures of hot actors are more common means of self-soothing – and none of these things will affect one’s Google search results for all of time.
There is, however, a deeper issue in Jade’s tale, which is the expense women go to dating in a patriarchal world. There is still societal pressure for men to foot the bill on heterosexual dates – but women spend a ridiculous amount of time and money on grooming, because it is still expected.
If romance wasn’t dead, the idea that it has become transactional would put it on its last legs. Fair play, in a way, to Jade, who has already raised £400 – from men and women, and the supportive comments on her page are uplifting. But here’s a tip: maybe just go for a nice walk in the park for date number two. It’s almost completely free.
