Tea vs full meals (follow up)

[Oscar]

Wow! Didn't figure to get so much discussion going on this topic!
I was kidding when I said I had "15 mouths to feed"!  There is no way I would have time to have a meal with all these women, meeting 4-5 of them a day for the first 3 to 4 days! I could never eat that much!
;-)  When I was in Kiev, I met the women for tea only on a first get together.  Even though they might not eat out that much, if they are not interested in you (and they aren't a scammer), they are just as uncomfortable sitting through a entire meal as you are I think!
My interpreter was a fantastic woman in her 40's and said that a first meeting should always be over tea and that most of the girls are most comfortable with this.  Of course the scammers will literally ASK for a meal!  I had one, and my interpreter had told her it was for tea, and she showed up and ordered just about the whole frigging menu while my interpreter and myself had just tea!  I was stunned!  My interpreter was really pissed off too!  It was actually pretty funny!  But I will never do that again.  No self-respecting girl there will ASK for a meal, she will wait to be invited.

I'm not trying to be cheap, just realistic!  My interpreter thought it was funny that I might feel obligated to buy a girl a meal on a first meeting and she set me straight real fast.  I really appreceiated her watching out for me!

[Cold Warrior]

... in response to Tea vs full meals (follow up), posted by Oscar on Jan 15, 2002

FROM NICHOLAS WAPSHOTT IN NEW YORK

IT MAY be the most expensive blind date in history and a plot for a romantic film: a wealthy businessman has agreed to pay $38,000 to have dinner with the actress Charlize Theron.
Josh Judd has never met the South African actress but the pair will spend an evening together, thanks to an Internet auction. Mr Judd will be following in the footsteps of the actors George Clooney and Stuart Townsend, who have both dated the blonde former Playboy model who appeared on People magazine’s “50 most beautiful people” list.

Everyone seems to benefit from this extraordinary arrangement: Mr Judd, the lucky man, gets to meet the star of The Cider House Rules and The Devil’s Advocate; the South African Children’s Charity Project gets the money, equivalent to £26,000; and there is plenty of good publicity for Theron, Chivas Regal Whiskey, which arranged the stunt, and eBay, the website that set up the auction.

Under the terms of the deal, Mr Judd has the choice of whether to take the star to a restaurant or whether to have dinner at her home. Whatever he opts for, a spokesman for Chivas Regal Whiskey was at pains to point out that Miss Theron would “prove to be exquisitely charming company as a dinner companion”.

[KenC]

... in response to Tea vs full meals (follow up), posted by Oscar on Jan 15, 2002

Oscar,
There are so many scenareos for this subject.  Of course it seems very wrong that your "date" milked you for a dinner.  Just as it seems wrong that Mark H's date demanded the very expensive resaurant for their first meeting.  This is where your people skills and common sense should kick in.  They might be able to "take you" for a dinner, but it should dam well be their last supper!(on your tab) LOL

The agency I worked with had a good handle on this situation.  All initial meetings were set up in the office of the agency.  If there were any desires for future dates, it was set up at these meetings.  Because the girls were "local" these meetings were pretty easy for them too.  The agency also had reccomended places to dine so their clients didn't get scalped by large tabs either.
KenC