There's nothing like getting stood up for a first date—and one man's unflinching live account of his experience has gained attention online.
Zakir Siddiqui shared to TikTok a vlog documenting his failed date as it unfolded, and the video has since gone viral—getting nearly two million views and 100,000 likes. Siddiqui, 29, spoke to Newsweek about the disappointment he felt that evening and his wider experience with online dating.
In the video, posted to his account @zockr, Siddiqui said: "I'm walking up to a first date and we're off to grab drinks at this wine bar, and I'm really excited." Later, he concluded: "It is 11 p.m. and she's a goner. I don't think she's coming."
"Well, that was fun and not embarrassing in the slightest at all," he added.
At the beginning of the footage, shared on June 16, Siddiqui said the woman had already postponed the date by two hours but had communicated that schedule change. He joked that meeting up at 10 p.m. was late for him, but he was still excited about meeting her.
His feelings changed, though, as he realized that his date was not going to honor the adjusted time. When two of his calls went straight to her voicemail, Siddiqui understood what was happening.
"Throughout the evening, I felt more and more anxious when I realized she wasn't going to show up," Siddiqui told Newsweek. "That anxiety turned into frustration, which turned into disappointment within myself. Nobody goes into a date expecting to get stood up."
This didn't stop him from treating himself, though. After he accepted his dating fate, he opted to stay in the wine bar and buy himself a nice drink to "take the edge off."
@zockr could’ve been worse… #fyp #dating #stoodup
♬ original sound - zakir
Siddiqui frequently posts on his TikTok about his online dating experiences, and said this particular instance left him with a bad feeling.
"Getting stood up is a horrible feeling, it made me feel defeated and put me in a spot where I was ready to be done with dating," he said. "She never got back to me after the countless times I reached out to see if she was coming. Because of the lack of communication and respect from her end, I chose to block her number and dating profile from contacting me again in the future."
Siddiqui said that beyond being stood up, online dating has sometimes proved confusing and disappointing.
"My dating journey has been predominantly online through dating apps and social media. Truthfully, it's been so stressful because it's hard to gauge what people are truly looking for nowadays, and I wish people were more transparent and communicative of where their head is at emotionally," he said.
Some TikTokers shared their experiences of no-show dates, with one saying, "I got stood up last week too. Right when I was about to leave, I noticed he blocked me."
Others criticized his date's behavior, and expressed surprise at Siddiqui's lack of success on the apps.
One user posted, "Pushing the date from 8 to 10:00 was the first red flag."
A second said, "Unacceptable of a first date to be over 30 minutes late. I would have left after 15 minutes."
While another user wrote, "Zakir I don't understand you're so cute it shouldn't be this hard for you lol."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
