Sarah Frances Hicks

Red Flags

After I broke up with my ex, I went on a string of first dates that were bizarre, but always ended for principled reasons. The first was a man I had met on the dating app Tinder. Jake was tall, with dark hair and a friendly smile. We exchanged witty banter for a few days then agreed to meet at a bar in Astoria. We met up on the street corner, shook hands, and started walking towards Freddie’s Wine Bar. While we were walking he asked me if I worked out and when I told him I did, he asked how I liked to work out. At the time I rarely went to a yoga class and ran several times a week. “Yeah I can tell, you’re pretty skinny,” he said, which should have been a red flag him triggering me about my weight. But I let the date continue.