Love & Sex 5th May 2023 by Jade Hayden

Drinking On A First Date Is Giving People The Ick Now, Seemingly

Gen Z, you're killing me

I’ve never been on a sober first date. Have you?

It’s not that I’d be incapable – it’s that I choose not to. I like having a few pints with a person I’ve never met before. I like getting a bit tipsy with a stranger who I may or may not be attracted to. I like having silly conversations and getting overly personal with someone in a way that I never would if we were, say, sitting in a café, or playing mini golf.

Drinking is part of my general life experience, and so it makes sense that I would gravitate towards a few cold ones for a date.

Does that make a bad person? Does that make me dull and tiresome? Does it make my dating style weary and uninteresting?

Most would say no. Gen Z would say otherwise.

According to a survey conducted by Hinge, a staggering 75% of the app’s global users of that age say that going for a drink is no longer their preferred first date activity.

More than half of singletons on the app say they apparently prefer non-alcoholic dates because they want to be in “the right state of mind while getting to know their potential partner.”

Photo by Khoa Võ

What’s more is that two thirds of respondents said that it would be a red flag if their date drank too much on a first date – which yes, is absolutely fair enough. But let’s just not ruin ourselves when we’re meeting another human being for the first time. We’re all adults, right?

For the most part, I’m being facetious here. It’s great that the younger generation are scaling back their drinking habits and opting for more creative first date ideas than sitting in a pub.

It’s refreshing, really, to see younger people having the desire (and the confidence!) to meet new people without the social lubricant that comes with a glass of rosé, or two.

Maybe us decrepit millennials would do well to take a leaf out of their non-alcoholic book, and next time we’re setting up a first date opt for a wander around a gallery, a nice coffee, or a stroll in the park.

As terrifying as that all sounds.

Tags: