7 Women Share How Guys Redeemed Themselves After Awful First Impressions

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The night I met my ex-girlfriend at a college house party, I made a pretty disgusting impression. Earlier that day, I’d consumed roughly 30 very potent garlic parmesan chicken wings, and they were getting a little chatty at the party. I was able to hold the farts in until I could step outside, but I was letting loose with the occasional burp. They smelled pretty terrible, and they somehow filled entire rooms. After a really bad one, one of her friends started drunkenly screaming about how gross it was and demanded someone cop to it, so I was like, “Sorry guys.” Then I went home and ate more wings.

The ex was beautiful and interesting but I assumed she would just always view me as the weird, smelly, gaseous dude—but she actually got past it. We started hanging out, and before long we fell in love. It ended up being the longest relationship of my life to date, and we remain close friends.

“I was able to hold the farts in until I could step outside, but I was letting loose with the occasional burp.”

I was wondering about other women who were also open and kind enough to give a dude a second chance after he blew his first impression—and for it to have worked out in their favor. I found some, and got them to share their stories with me.

“We me on Bumble and he seemed pretty cool. Our first date was terrible, though. He was very rushed, and after one drink said he had to go back to work. I didn’t believe him, but then at around one in the morning he sent me a time-stamped picture with a co-worker, with a really sweet message about how sorry he was that the date had gone so badly. He’d been really anxious about the project he was working on but hadn’t wanted to cancel on me, in case he didn’t get another chance to meet me. The next time we went out was great. That was a couple of months ago, and we’re still dating.” —Shannon A.

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“I don’t know if this even counts as a first encounter, because the encounter never happened. The guy flat-out didn’t show up for what was supposed to be our first date. I hadn’t heard from him when he was 20 minutes late, so I finished my drink and left. He called me soon after but I guess I was underground on the subway. He left a voicemail that was very, very apologetic. He had been in an interview for a job he really wanted, and it went over on time. His phone had been turned off and he obviously wasn’t going to pause things with his maybe future employer to turn it back on and text me. I’m glad I listened to his message, because part of me wanted to just immediately delete it. We rescheduled and ended up dating for a few months.” —Cayla R.

“He sent me a time-stamped picture with a co-worker, with a really sweet message about how sorry he was that the date had gone so badly.”

“The first time I met my boyfriend, he was out of his mind drunk at a wedding. He vomited pretty early in the night and was escorted to his hotel room. Everyone gets drunk, but when you’re almost 30, you should be able to hold your liquor. We ended up hanging out in groups a few times, and I said yes when he asked me out. He’s just not great at drinking and doesn’t do it very much, though he does get pretty wild on special occasions.” —Heather S.

“My guy took me on our first date to the bar that he worked at. That’s a pretty tacky move, and it also felt like I was trying out, since his coworkers all saw and met me. I didn’t plan on seeing him again, but he called to ask me on a second date. I was so surprised that I said yes. Guys just don’t really do that much anymore, so it scored him back the points he lost, and the second date was much better. The dates just kept getting better after that.” —Liz M.

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“The night we were supposed to go on our first date, my husband canceled to go to a happy hour with coworkers. Things happen, but rescheduling a first date for something that seems so trivial makes a horrible impression. To be honest, though, I wasn’t having much dating luck, so I agreed to reschedule. I’m glad I did, because he’s the love of my life. Oh, and one of the first things he did when we finally went out was explain that he was new at his job and his boss had invited him to the happy hour, so he didn’t want to say no.” —Nicole H.

“I didn’t plan on seeing him again, but he called to ask me on a second date. Guys just don’t really do that much anymore, so it scored him back the points he lost.”

“I met up with this man who had definitely lied about his height. He was inches shorter than he’d posted. I’m not one who cares that much about that, but I’m taller than average, and some guys don’t want to date a woman who is a lot taller than them. He made me laugh a lot, though, so I gave him another chance, even though starting things out with someone who lies isn’t something I would usually do. We dated for a while, but I moved away and neither of us wanted to do long distance.” —Brittany C.

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“The first time I went out with the boyfriend I had for most of college, it was a disaster. He was super nervous and really sweaty the whole time. He didn’t acknowledge the sweating either, which made it even more awkward. At the very end of the date, though, when he walked me back to my apartment, he said ‘I’m sorry if I came off as nervous, but I’ve wanted to go out with you for a long time. If there is a next time, I’ll try and be more comfortable and more myself.’ It was so sweet.” —Julie W.