# Asking for a doggy bag on the first date as a guy **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 6, 2018, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567 "2018-06-06T20:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/41 "2018-06-07T12:17:02Z")
I think I would be more bothered if a guy left a bunch of uneaten food on his plate, especially if the meal was expensive. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/42 "2018-06-07T12:21:51Z")
Tapas. It’s basically _all_ appetizers. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/43 "2018-06-07T12:28:51Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > You want to impress the girl? Get a to go bag and then give it to the first homeless person you see. Don’t make a show of it. Just be cool. Don’t be all, un-cool. I went out with a woman who was, I thought, fussily trimming her meat while we ate. She placed all the off cuts in a paper napkin. I asked her if the meal was OK. She replied that it was great, she was just trimming some bits off for the homeless guy down the street to feed to his dog. Having barely noticed the homeless guy as we walked past, let alone the fact that he had a small dog asleep beside him, I was very, very impressed. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/44 "2018-06-07T12:31:00Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I think being married in a 20 year relationship makes me MORE of an expert. I mean whose the better businessman? The entrepreneur-junkie who has founded and “exited” a dozen startups? Or Bill Gates who just built the one? Cute thought but the question isn’t about who’d be the better businessman (long term partner), but who knows more about selling potential investors to start up something new from scratch (get a second date). The entrepreneur-junkie knows the latter better than Bill Gates. Come to me with my over three decades for advice on how to make a marriage last through various stresses and I might be more of an expert. Making that first impression on a date with someone who does not yet know you and who you do not yet know? I have not done that in a very very long time. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/45 "2018-06-07T12:40:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Does it make me less of a man? Would leaving it and throwing away good money or stuffing yourself so that it’s all eaten make you MORE of a man? No, of course not. Most restaurants serve what is for me TWO meals worth of food, so it is highly likely that I’d be taking a box of food home also. I don’t see any need to feel uncomfortable about it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/46 "2018-06-07T13:01:37Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Making that first impression on a date with someone who does not yet know you and who you do not yet know? I have not done that in a very very long time. I didn’t stop being impressive after I got married.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/47 "2018-06-07T13:02:21Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > You want to impress the girl? Get a to go bag and then give it to the first homeless person you see. Don’t make a show of it. Just be cool. Don’t be all, un-cool. Get outta my head, you freak! Actually, this would be my go-to if: > [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > If she looks at you askance, just wink and say, “We can share it for breakfast.” fell flat. Best advice for first date dining: be very much who you are. Don’t start a potential relationship off with lies and false advertising. Hell, I was the pursed (if you can believe that!) on my last first date. She drove us to Olive Garden with Insane Clown Posse on the stereo. She later said my reaction to ICP was part of the interview process, and was pleasantly surprised when I’d asked for a to-go box of breadsticks & sauce “for later” as we were leaving. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/48 "2018-06-07T13:56:05Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Nothing ends up less cool than trying to be cool. > > If that is not something you’d _normally_ do then DO NOT do it in order to try to impress a date. > > And while I am an old married and hardly expert, my sense has always been that being concerned about how something looks is what looks the worst. It’s absolutely something I do, have done, and it’s worked for me when dating. That said, I’d avoid ordering so much food on a first date that left-overs are a problem to deal with. Nothing sexy about a doggy bag on a first date. My initial response was to a situation where you’ve committed the error of asking for one and want to leverage it to maximum advantage. Finally, it’s a date. You want to make the best impression you can. Whatever lousy character flaws you have will come out in due time anyway, and the doggy bag trick won’t save you. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/49 "2018-06-07T14:10:43Z")
I’m impressed with how sad this question is. On a first date (I’m a straight woman), I would be busily picking up consciously and unconsciously one hundred million clues about what kind of person is on the other side of the table. You simply cannot out-think the human, and apparently more intensely, the female, ability to suss out your true nature. Do what you normally do for crying out loud. You will eventually anyway. Are you trying to project some imaginarily-cooler false persona for some reason? To me, detecting this phenomenon in a guy is 30,000 black marks. I completely quit being interested. I’m sure there are women out there who are more obtuse, shallower, or just more desperate than me, but are you actually on the hunt for them? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/50 "2018-06-07T14:16:42Z")
American portions? Receiving foreign visitors into the US, one of the things we’d do is explain the concept of being able to take part of the food to go; that if you’re in a hotel and eating that food later doesn’t seem likely, many places let you get half-portions; that sometimes asking for a half portion leads to the the waitresses (in the US they’re almost always women) to freeze up; that this is because they get an inordinate amount of their income from tips so if you’re asking for half-portions you should still tip as if you’d asked for a whole portion. If I was out on a date, the portion was US-sized and my date asked for part of it to go I’d think “oh good, he doesn’t think he’s required to eat the whole thing, leg tables included!” ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/51 "2018-06-07T14:26:17Z")
Like every else, “it depends”. Beyond all else, it depends on the girl, and there’s virtually no way to tell beforehand how she’ll view it. I personally never take food home for myself; aside from pizza I don’t generally like leftovers. I do give leftover food to homeless folks but I wouldn’t necessarily do that on a first date. If it’s enough of an issue to make you wonder about it, just don’t do it on the first date. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/52 "2018-06-07T14:37:19Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Homeless people don’t give a damn about that. I’ve never seen one refuse leftover restaurant food. Plus, your girl will admire your empathy and won’t be able to take her hands off of you. Yeah, I know the homeless guy would take the doggy bag, but as the girl in the scenario, I’m saying it wouldn’t impress me if my date gave away his table scraps. It would make a better impression if he bought the homeless guy his own dinner, letting him choose off the menu. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/53 "2018-06-07T14:43:50Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > It’s absolutely something I do, have done, and it’s worked for me when dating. Is it too early to admit that you gave me a bottle of MD 20/20 and $20 to sit & wait on the sidewalk outside the restaurant for the date in question? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/54 "2018-06-07T14:49:27Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Yeah, I know the homeless guy would take the doggy bag, but as the girl in the scenario, I’m saying it wouldn’t impress me if my date gave away his table scraps. It would make a better impression if he bought the homeless guy his own dinner, letting him choose off the menu. Would it impress you further to have him invite the homeless guy to sit and have dinner with you, or would you be fine handing him the bag to sit and eat his meal in the alley? Rhetorical. Point is, that’s not what the OP is asking and furthermore, not all restaurants post their menu on the sidewalk where the homeless people hang out. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/55 "2018-06-07T14:54:34Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Is it too early to admit that you gave me a bottle of MD 20/20 and $20 to sit & wait on the sidewalk outside the restaurant for the date in question? I guess a $20 doesn’t buy as much silence as it used to. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/56 "2018-06-07T15:01:02Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Yeah, I know the homeless guy would take the doggy bag, but as the girl in the scenario, I’m saying it wouldn’t impress me if my date gave away his table scraps. It would make a better impression if he bought the homeless guy his own dinner, letting him choose off the menu. That’s one heck of a third wheel on your first date: “Hey, I invited this homeless dude who probably hasn’t showered in days to join us.” ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/57 "2018-06-07T15:02:09Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Yeah, I know the homeless guy would take the doggy bag, but as the girl in the scenario, I’m saying it wouldn’t impress me if my date gave away his table scraps. It would make a better impression if he bought the homeless guy his own dinner, letting him choose off the menu. Really? To me that would look like he’s _trying too hard_ to impress me. Wrapping up and giving away worthwhile leftovers, i.e. not the excised gristle from his steak and a sprig of parsley, is a natural act of decency. Approaching a homeless person and making a grand gesture of ordering him a meal seems over the top. Anyway, getting back on topic, I stand by answer; if the OP is in doubt, save the doggy bag scenario for a few dates in. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/58 "2018-06-07T15:10:29Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Waiter, can you put this leftover steak in a “tiger sack” for me? Fuck yeah!! I can feel the hair on my back growing thicker just reading this! > [@Jasmine](#): > > Would stuffing yourself so that it’s all eaten make you MORE of a man? No, of course not. Um, i think it kinda would. At least if he made a habit out of it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/59 "2018-06-07T15:12:38Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > That’s one heck of a third wheel on your first date: “Hey, I invited this homeless dude who probably hasn’t showered in days to join us.” “Oh, and he’s totally not into _Starwars_, so we need to pick a different movie for after dinner.” ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567/60 "2018-06-07T15:15:26Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Fuck yeah!! I can feel the hair on my back growing thicker just reading this! > > Um, i think it kinda would. At least if he made a habit out of it. 🙂 Not if he burned it off cutting down trees with an ax and wrestling bears for prime salmon fishing spots. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-for-a-doggy-bag-on-the-first-date-as-a-guy/815567.md?page=4)