The dating test: The ethical dilemma of facing an absurd provocation
Stefano took a step closer and added in a professorial, authoritative tone: “I didn’t tidy up the kitchen on purpose. I want to see how you react and what you can do with your hands tonight. Romantic words don’t prove anything concrete in reality. The state and daily management of a kitchen immediately reveals a woman’s true character and education.” I remained frozen there, in the center of the room, wearing my most elegant dress, high heels, and still clutching the gift box of chocolates.
I understood with ever-increasing and bitter clarity that the man wasn’t joking or making a harmless joke: he had deliberately decided to subject me to a veritable patriarchal test during our very first domestic encounter. Conflicting thoughts and human insecurities crowded my mind. I wondered for a moment whether I should indulge him out of kindness, or whether perhaps it was simply an extravagant and provocative way of assessing my aptitude for future married life and cohabitation. But then my immense dignity as a free and modern woman took over.
Laura’s reaction and the unexpected turn of events
The Home Date Test: Laura’s Dignity and a Woman’s Redemption.
I looked Stefano straight in the eyes for a few long seconds in perfect, glacial silence, letting his presumptuous, arrogant smile gradually fade in the face of my absolute determination. I didn’t utter a single word of vulgar anger, nor did I explode into a theatrical, hysterical outburst. Very calmly, I placed the box of chocolates on the kitchen counter, took my phone out of my purse, and ordered two full, high-end dinners from the best restaurant in town via a delivery app, paying the bill directly online.
Then I turned to Stefano and said in a firm, deep, and unaltered voice: “You’re absolutely right about one thing: this evening truly reveals a lot about a person’s character and values. But not my character, but yours. A mature love relationship is based on mutual respect and equal sharing, not on submission tests or retrograde tests of domestic service.” Stefano remained completely still, taken completely by surprise by a reaction he hadn’t even remotely anticipated in his manipulative mind.
The Date Test: Delivered Food and a Class in Elegance
When twenty minutes later the delivery man rang the intercom with the steaming, fragrant packages of delicious food, I went to open the door myself, welcoming the food with a broad smile and placing the elegant plates on the already set table in the living room. I sat alone at the top of the table and began to dine with great calm and gusto, inviting Stefano to join me if he wished. The man, visibly embarrassed, taken aback, and completely deflated by his usual haughtiness, sat down across from me, not quite knowing how to behave or what to say.
He watched me dine with supreme calm, then turned to his kitchen, still immersed in clutter. “If you were expecting a free maid or a housekeeper for the evening, you’ve got the wrong person,” I told him as I sipped my water. “A mature, classy man invites a woman into his home to offer her a pleasant moment and sincere hospitality, not to test her as if she were at an old-fashioned job interview.”
