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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To say 'no' to a date because of this?

250 replies

BossyBitch · 25/08/2017 23:20

I'm totally prepared to be told IABU, but please read the backstory before deciding - I'll try to keep it reasonably short:

I've recently met a man and he's asked me on a date. It's definitely not love at first sight by any means, but he's nice enough and we have some interests in common. Under different circumstances, I might consider accepting and seeing how it goes, but he's unemployed and, even if he weren't, would be looking at a salary of about a third of my own. And this is kind of a deal-breaker for me.

I'm divorced, and exH has always made a lot less than me. This led to me losing almost half of what I owned and of my pension in the divorce. He also used to be insanely jealous of my professional situation - both in the sense that he envied me for being the main breadwinner and in that he actually seemed to feel personally threatened by my career, which is admittedly important to me.

Being asked out by this guy has brought this all back. I really don't want another man who feels he has to be extra macho because his partner out-earns him. I also don't want to spend another few years paying for everything and then being given the silent-treatment because I've somehow insulted his manhood by doing so.

Then again, there's no reason to assume that other men would act like this just because my exH does - and I do feel like a horrible snob for turning someone down due to this.

So, AIBU to say no to a date because he doesn't have a job and - even if he did - comes nowhere close to my own earning potential?

OP posts:
PoppyPopcorn · 26/08/2017 09:29

Would be a deal breaker for me too. Don't care if that makes me shallow, snobbish etc etc etc. You only get one chance at life and it's too short to be wasted on people you're not compatible with. You're obviously having doubts or wouldn't even have posted. Move on.

Happydoingitjusttheonce · 26/08/2017 09:33

Been in your position exactly re ex and it made me very wary when I started dating. I wouldn't date an unemployed man. I don't want or need a man to look after me but I also don't want to have to look after a man. My partner earns less than me but he's got more assets than me (never married, no kids) so I'm happy there is financial equality and independence from each other.

Sprogletsmuvva · 26/08/2017 09:34

As others have said, entirely up to you. Mating preferences aren't a 'diversity ' exercise!

However, I hope the consensus would work the same if a woman was the unemployed/low earner one. If a woman posted on here (similar circus, i.e. no reason not to work such as illness), "Recently got a job after being unemployed for a while. Just found out the bloke I fancy isn't interested partly because he earns 3x what I do", would everyone say they understand where he's coming from...or would he be criticised as shallow and tight?

HotelEuphoria · 26/08/2017 09:35

YANBU, I wouldn't either. It's not so much the lesser paying job but the no job when there doesn't seem a valid reason for not having one.

CoinOperatedGurl · 26/08/2017 09:46

No. I wouldn't date a man without a job.

Trills · 26/08/2017 09:46

be polite in turning him down and do so in person or by a phone call- please not by text message.

You think this is a general rule but it is not.

It's very common for early relationships to be conducted entirely in person or via text, without ever speaking on the phone.

Personally I would prefer to be told "thanks but no thanks" via text, rather than be invited out for the explicit reason of being told there would be no more dates. That would be a waste of my time.

Aeroflotgirl · 26/08/2017 09:51

I think some of you are totally missing the point. The man does not sound like he has much of a work ethic, Op has said he is a 'diva' regarding jobs, as in he is waiting for the 'perfect job', one that probably earns £600 pw with doing as little as possible. That would ring alarm bells, and cocklodger.

dailydance · 26/08/2017 09:51

Yanbu. Two of my exes earned less than me and were scroungers; one a gold digger.

Aeroflotgirl · 26/08/2017 09:52

I won't go into too much detail on here because it might out him and that wouldn't be fair - but it's a reason that makes me suspect strongly he's a bit of a diva when it comes to jobs. The sort of person who'll only take an X position and only for Y amount of money and at Z conditions, and if that's not on offer he won't play ball if you know what I mean. It's another thing that I'm not very comfortable with

That would ring alarm bells, and make me say noway! Screams cocklodger to me, and op is right, stay well away, or there is trouble ahead.

Maelstrop · 26/08/2017 09:55

There's no way I'd date someone unemployed: are you going to have to fund everything? Absolutely not if he isn't stunning!

Whinesalot · 26/08/2017 09:57

Any reason is a good reason if you know it isn't going to work for you.

keeponworking · 26/08/2017 10:01

The guy sounds like a classic fantasist - avoid, avoid, avoid!

Oh, plus you don't even fancy him so Christ knows why we're even having this conversation!

Bluntness100 · 26/08/2017 10:08

Totally not unreasonable. You don't particularly fancy him in the first place.

Nothing wrong with wanting a partner with a strong work ethic and comparable earnings. I suspect if you fancied the pants off him you'd probably go on the date.

harshbuttrue1980 · 26/08/2017 10:37

I wouldn't care if someone earned less than me. I wouldn't date someone without a job though, unless they were actively and seriously looking for one.

abigamarone · 26/08/2017 10:37

I wouldn't want to go out with someone who didn't work, in between jobs maybe. But intentionally not working, however financially well off they were just wouldn't work for me.
It isn't remotely connected to money, it's their approach to life - if I won the lottery I wouldn't give up working.

FannyTheFlamingo · 26/08/2017 11:13

DP didn't have a proper job when we met....I paid for pretty much everything for the first couple of months. Now he earns enough for me to be a SAHM. Be careful when you judge someone based on their job!

Aeroflotgirl · 26/08/2017 11:16

Fanny read the op posts, he is a job diva, big alarm bells,

FannyTheFlamingo · 26/08/2017 11:38

He may have his reasons for that, but my post was aimed more at the people who just wouldn't consider going out with someone who was unemployed as it doesn't necessarily mean someone who'll be unemployed or a low earner forever. The OP doesn't fancy him anyway, which would be a no no for me.

WhatALoadOfOldBollocks · 26/08/2017 11:50

YANBU
You've been with someone who wasn't your equal financially so if you feel uncomfortable potentially repeating it with someone else that's a good reason not to bother.

His attitude to work is a bit suspect (he only goes for the "perfect" jobs and would rather be unemployed than work in anything less perfect), which is a red flag.

You don't fancy him (so why would you even want to begin a potential sexual relationship with him)

Why on earth should OP go on a date with him/give him a chance as some posters are saying? She owes him nothing! We are not obligued to accept a date just because a man asked! The reason I went out with so many losers in my youth is because I somehow felt I should say yes to men who had plucked up the courage to ask me. That I should "give them a chance". Fuck that, what a waste of life! No, no no no no.

VioletCharlotte · 26/08/2017 11:54

YANBU you can turn down a date for any reason you choose.

Unemployed/ V low salary wouldn't necessarily be a deal breaker for me, but it would depend on the circumstances. If he was a health care worker or similar and did a low paid, but worthwhile job, then no issue at all. If however, he was unemployed because he was lazy and didn't make much effort to look for anything, then no way.

Hapaxlegomenon · 26/08/2017 11:55

YANBU. It seems like you've learned from your mistakes, and your gut is telling you that you want something different this time around

VioletCharlotte · 26/08/2017 11:55

Just to add, I've turned down a date with a guy who specified one of his hobbies was fishing! Maggots in the fridge and smelly fishing gear would be an absolute no for me, so there was clearly no future for us.

Aeroflotgirl · 26/08/2017 12:16

OP describing him as a work diva, i.e. no work ethic, looking for that perfect job, that may never be, or may be months or years away, without taking anything in between. No sorry that would be off putting. He would expect you to support him, and pay for everything.

BorderChick · 26/08/2017 12:29

YANBU!

BorderChick · 26/08/2017 12:29

YANBU @bossychick

Any man who is unemployed, (and isn't disabled or ill,) and who is fairly content with being unemployed, would be out the door after a first date.

I know someone who dated a man some 20 years ago, who was bone idle. He was 24, and had never worked, except a youth training scheme thing for 6 months which he was forced to do. He got 40 quid dole money a week, gave his mother fuck-all, and used his mother's car (which she taxed and insured and filled with petrol for him.)

My friend dated him for a few months, as he said he was 'between jobs' at the time. As she scratched the surface, she realised he had never had a proper job. At 24 years old. It was his mother who told her!!!

She tried to end it (after 2-3 months,) but he begged her to not end it, and promised he'd get a job. He had a job in a factory within 3 days.

They stayed together and he carried on working, and they bought a flat together (late 1990's.) They had a baby too. However, when he got finished from his factory job 10 years later, he just drifted from temp job to temp job, spending like there was no tomorrow, (like he had done when he was working full time in the factory,) and constantly throwing them in the mire, and taking handouts from his mother (AND her mother,) just to survive.

Around 2009 my friend was at the end of her tether and tried to end the marriage - when his excessive spending caused them to go bankrupt and lose their home. She foolishly stayed after he begged and cried and wailed that he couldn't live without her.

After that, he got a permanent position, (supermarket,) but it was only 28 hours a week. He was Ok for several years, but since around 2012, he has been constantly 'ill,' and trying to find new ways to get written off permanently sick. He has already said he wants to reduce his hours to 22 from 30, as his job 'stresses him out,' and if he does 'tax credits will top it up!'

My friend said if he voluntarily gives up his job, or reduces his hours by almost a THIRD, for sod-all, the marriage is dead. He knows she means it.

She said she is happy to do everything; childcare, housework, cooking, washing, paying the bills, sorting family admin etc etc, and all she wants is him to just stay in a job. (She works 26 hours herself as well as doing everything else!) But she said a man without a job is a no-no, no matter how 'nice' he is. And a man who deliberately gives up work because he 'can't be arsed' is not someone she wants to be with. Especially as he would throw them in the financial mire again.

Basically, a man who doesn't work - for no reason at all - is lazy, and entitled, and that will NOT make for a good husband, or a good father.

I would swerve the man if I were you OP. You deserve better. Also, many men can't handle women being more successful than them, and this will be an issue too.

And there is nothing 'judgemental' about not wanting to date someone who hasn't got a bloody job. (As one poster said earlier.) What kind of man do you have to be to voluntarily not have a job?

It's not about wanting him to buy you pressies and dinner; what a ridiculous thing to say!!! If some women are happy to take any man they can get - even one who purposely chooses to not work - then good luck to them. But I want, need, and deserve better. So does the OP.