To not want to ‘sit in the park’ on a second date?

There shouldn't be a presumption that he would be paying for the date anyway, isn't it polite to go halves?

The park wouldn't bother me in the slightest, you can chat and get to know each other and then grab a coffee.

Lots of men haters on this post with the "he's either tight or has money issues" and to suggest what you want to do. He is suggesting something he clearly likes so why not go with it and see? Something might even blossom from it as it's different to your norm. I know some beautiful parks around our area and I would love a nice relaxing walk around them or sat on a blanket getting to know someone rather than the pressure of a meal where I'd be worrying I'd end up with something down my dress or something stuck in my teeth!!

Just ask him to do something else - i'd love to see you again but can we do X y z instead cos the weather is going to be rubbish.

Oh my god, thats all youre worth = A Bench ( substitute Bench)......AND get this: he has No Qualms about verbalising what to expect from him. Just the bench. How excruciatingly embarrassing and crass. Maybe he meant ' Meet in The Park ' ......then go for a day trip to the coast and get a fish an chip lunch/ suppper. Teens go to the park for a fumble , be careful he sounds dodgey.

I’d quite like it - my partner suggested a walk on one of our dates (I’m not a walking kind of girl) so I agreed.
He forgot to mention it would be delivering election leaflets 😂😂

That would be my ideal date! You can't really talk at a restaurant or the cinema. But a nice walk in the park is so romantic!
Why does every date have to be about how much money they're willing to spend on you?

I'm referring back to my previous reply where I said that he may (in his late forties) be losing some hearing and would prefer a date where he can chat to someone without a lot of background noise. I would happily have a date sitting in a park if it meant that we could talk properly, not have to shout over music, other people, TVs etc. I like talking. I also like eating, but an eating date for me is for later on, when you don't want or need to talk so much.

And yes, I am losing hearing and finding myself nodding and smiling when there's a lot of background noise (which could lead to all KINDS of complications when dating).

I think for me it's considering whether this date is adding something to my life. I can sit in a park perfectly pleasantly by myself, and in fact I do, most days, as my walk to work is through a lovely Victorian park, with a lime avenue, a pond, an arboretum, a rose garden, and a river walk, and it's where I take DS skateboarding or just for some air after school or at weekends.

Doing something I ordinarily do most days on a second date just isn't that enticing, just as I wouldn't want to go out for dinner to a restaurant that cooked the kind of very ordinary pasta dish DH and I might cook on an uninspired Tuesday night.

Maybe this guy thinks that sitting in a park is romantic and unusual, and maybe it would be for him, but it's not for me, so I would be suggesting we did something else.

I too thought that..there are Parks..and Parks.

The sort of dog crap park where XL Bullies run unmuzzled and there is drink and drug taking {Needles strewn around} is completely different to the nicer parks - Surely he must mean the better areas? {Even then, they are plagued by van dwellers who shit in the bushes - Like on Bristol Downs {Friend lives nearby}.

Richmond Park is lovely and dogs have to be on a lead at this time of year.

Ba-da-boom-tish

What's the difference between a nice bottle of wine, and a few cans of cider?!

About £6

The OP always splits the bill. She said it in her OP.

Whatevers your tipple I suppose, I mean can you order diamond white in a restaurant? I just think I like the idea of going to the effort of organising a bit of a spread, rather than ordering from a waiter.

Necking a bottle of wine in a public park somehow becomes romantic if you are sitting on a picnic blanket. But would be unacceptable on a bench.

What's the difference between a nice bottle of wine, and a few cans of cider?!

Legitimately asking. I wouldn't sit in the park with a few cans, not sure I'd sit with a bottle of wine either.

Is one more acceptable than the other?

OP although I’m pretty sure you’re not interested in this guy by your comments, I’d be tempted to ask him what exactly he’s suggesting for the date?

His wording might be crap and he means a lovely park with a nice cafe or he might actually mean sitting on a bench but without asking you won’t know for sure.

I mean dates in the park can be imaginative - nice little bottle of wine, some nice food, a blanket, hell even flowers, balloons and music - instead of relying on a restaurant to provide it all is what I meant.

As in, dates in the park are imaginative? Or they're not imaginative?

This thread is both enlightening and depressing - it's like getting the traditional flowers/ chocolate gift v a handmade thoughtful personalised gift - some people just lack imagination and this thread just highlights it .

Botanic Gardens with a nice cafe and a walk? Fine.
Not so much an ordinary old park.
Maybe there is something romantic about it. Who knows. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and see how it goes.

I would not agree to a second date sitting in a park.

It's just so depressingly low effort. Hardly trying to impress you is he?

Dunno, depends if you are from the same area and share local colloquial expressions?

But I am sure your SIL would not say that if inviting someone who had no idea that is what she meant.
I mean plenty of men say they are taking the dog for a walk, when they are really taking the dog to the pub. But you would not invite someone who does not know that to come for a dog walk.

Now I think about it, my sil says 'go for a sit in the park' as a cutesy way of saying going for an overpriced lunch at the cafe in the park.

Personally I think it's the phrasing that's an issue, not necessarily the activity.
Even going for a 'walk in the park' with friends we've always stopped for a coffee or some other treat. Unless we've brought a picnic! Walking makes the conversation flow as well for some people, my husband becomes totally different on a walk 🤣

'Sit in the park' makes it sound like one of those spy shows where people sit next to each other on a bench before furtively exchanging secrets/leaving a coded newspaper behind/whatever.

However I didn't know if it was perhaps a regional phrase meaning a picnic or similar!

All of my park walks (as I'm in greater Manchester and have several beautiful ones nearby) with woodland etc have involved some thinking about routes, best places to sit and of course a rainy plan B! It's hardly just showing up empty handed and plonking ourselves down somewhere after an aimless stroll.

A restaurant would be much easier I'd just have to book and turn up.