‘I would cry’: Dating clip sparks etiquette debate

Gen Z is a different breed from their elders, but one clip has exposed the one dating rule getting them riled up.

Gen Z is a different breed from their elders, but they’re also still pretty big on one type of etiquette.  

A London local, who goes by the username MissingDevon, posted a video of a group of people recently dining out at a restaurant.

The dining layout was a classic booth arrangement, where one person sat on a comfortable, lounge-like chair and the other sat on an ordinary dining chair.

If you’re the person who gets the regular dining chair, you’re also the one who has their back to the comings and goings of a restaurant. So waiters and people are constantly strolling past you.

The clip showed a row of couples sitting down to eat and, while two of the men sat in the normal dining chairs, giving the women the more comfortable booths, one woman was sitting in a dining chair with her back to the ongoing bustle of a busy restaurant.

MissingDevon posted the video to TikTok with the caption, “Only a girl could tell you what is wrong in this video”, and she seems to have been right.

This clip amassed over 5 million views. Picture: TikTok/ missingdevon

It kicked off a modern dating debate. Picture: TikTok/ missingdevon

The clip amassed 5 million views and the comment section was filled with young women arguing that the woman should be sitting in a comfortable booth.

“Why is she sitting on the chair?” one asked.

“The princess should be on the couch,” someone else argued.

“I would cry if he made me sit on the chair and he took the booth,” another confessed.

“He has taken the comfy cushion seat, making her sit on the wooden chair, and all the other guys are on chairs,” someone else observed.

“Wrong seat, fella,” another criticised.

People online couldn’t agree on where a man should sit. Picture: iStock

Interestingly, though, it wasn’t unanimous, with others arguing men should sit themselves facing the exits.

“It’s common etiquette for the man to always be facing the door,” one person said.

“I think that’s correct, so the man can see any danger entering the building first,” another wrote.

Someone else argued the man in the booth was in the right position because he could observe the entire restaurant and “protect” his date.

“A man wants to see the entry. It’s to see potential danger,” another man claimed, but a woman replied and said “there’s no danger” in a cocktail bar.

“Why can’t a man be comfy?” another asked.

Others argued it isn’t “that deep” and that no one knows their situation and perhaps the woman prefers the wooden chair.

The relationship expert explained that dating is evolving. Picture: Instagram

Relationship expert Elizabeth Jane told news.com.au said that there’s actually no wrong or right move in terms of who gets what seat in dating etiquette.

“I think that Gen Z men tend to be more emotionally expressive and are more comfortable with fluidity in gender roles, so taking the booth may not be viewed as ill-mannered, as both may view themselves as equals, and who takes the booth becomes quite irrelevant to them,” she said.

“It may come down to more practical considerations as to who takes the booth. The larger person may feel more comfortable in the booth, which may be larger or more sturdy.”

Ms Jane said that Millennial men may still be “emotionally evolving”, so they are more keen to stick to traditional gender roles.

The relationship expert noted etiquette norms are still a big part of dating for Gen Z but the standards are shifting.

“I wouldn’t say that etiquette norms are dying but rather they are transforming or at least adjusting to more relaxed rules on how a man and a woman should behave, gender roles are beginning to merge,” she said.

“They tend not to get lost in gender roles where they are seeking approval from older generations as to how they should act and what they should say.”

Originally published as ‘I would cry’: Dating clip sparks etiquette debate