D.C. woman goes on pottery date with Hinge match. Then he breaks her sobriety—and makes her pay for everything: ‘Let’s normalize walking away’
Some first dates are awkward. Others feel like a full-blown obstacle course designed to test your patience, boundaries, and sense of self-worth.
One D.C. woman thought she was signing up for a cute pottery date with a Hinge match. What she got instead was an impromptu bike marathon where she got left behind and a surprise wine moment that steamrolled her sobriety.
As the final twist, he casually stuck her with the bill because he “brought the wine.” Is 2026’s dating scene really this dire?
What Happened On This Hinge Date?
Emma (@emma.johansson11) is fielding questions left and right after her clip did its rounds on TikTok. Currently, it has 444,000 views and has joined its fellow clips depicting first date Hinge horror stories. In fact, Emma’s text overlay claims: “hinge date nightmare.”
From the onset, Emma clarifies that the man was the one to suggest a pottery date. He tells her he’s going to pick her up, but when he arrives there car-less, and she asks about it, he says they’ll be biking there. Cue the weird biking distance between them and empty back roads.
“I thought I was gonna die,” Emma says. She claims she even lost him at one point.
As they arrive at the pottery place, Emma notes that he doesn’t open the door for her. She reveals that she had previously shared her sobriety story with him. Apparently, he didn’t listen because he brought a bottle of wine for their date. Even worse, when Emma reminds him of it, he laughs and pours her a glass anyway.
“I was like, this is going really bad,” Emma states, “I might as well get drunk.”
Does She Drink the Wine?
She does. Throughout the clip, Emma shows different parts of the date, complete with him pouring the wine, them cheering, and her taking a sip. She then says he asked her questions, but she can’t remember them or how she answered.
Next, viewers are shown their works of art. Emma chooses a bowl and then shows his jar, which she calls “not really giving artist.” Then comes the doozy. He asks her to pay for everything.
Despite him initiating the date, he tells her, “Can you pay for mine, too?” When Emma questions it, he says it’s because he brought the wine, keeping in mind she didn’t even want wine to begin with. Does she pay?
In the comments, she admits that she did. Her caption for the clip says, “Am I in the wrong for not wanting to pay for this date?”
The Hinge Match Asks Her Out Again
Emma posts a separate TikTok where she records herself picking up the pottery pieces they left to be fired in the kiln. As she films herself doing so, Emma gives some more information about the date. The most popular question viewers asked is why she didn’t leave the date if it was so bad.
She says that it was a cute date idea, and she wanted to do the painting. As for paying for both of them, she wasn’t expecting it, but when the interaction happened, she didn’t know what else to do or say but agree.
Some viewers told her to stay with his jar, since she paid for it. However, she doesn’t really want it. The clip comes to a close with Emma saying she got jewelry and froyo alone after picking up the pottery. Lastly, she reveals that he asked her out again. She asks her viewers for advice on whether she should accept or not.
Viewers are suspicious
The dating scene in D.C. is so bad that people are begging for fake stories. Emma’s comment section is full of viewers asking if it’s either a joke, satire, or a skit. She replies that it’s very much real.
Many comment on the man’s behavior. “It’s like almost a fantastic date if he just wasn’t there,” says a viewer with over 23,000 likes. Another says, “Hinge date from HELL! That was a solo date if anything.”
When a viewer asks Emma if she paid for his pottery and she affirms that she did, she shares, “Or not had to but i wasn’t gonna make a scene in front of the girl at the check out.”
Another viewer calls him out, saying, “If someone biked that far ahead of me, I would just turn around and go back home.”
Some call out Emma for breaking her sobriety, saying, “Then why would you drink the wine???” Similarly, a second viewer says, “Why are we breaking our sobriety over…what even? Avoiding awkwardness with a first date that you already know is going nowhere?”
@emma.johansson11 Am I in the wrong for not wanting to pay for this date? Hinge horror story! Should I go on a second date with this man or no? #hinge #baddate #date #potterypainting ♬ original sound – ?✨️?Alfred?✨️?
One viewer simply says, “Let’s normalize walking away.” And lastly, one surmises everything with a: “Dating in DC is a literal nightmare.”
The Mary Sue reached out to Emma via TikTok direct message.
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