Green Flag / Red Flag · by Jisoo Park · 2026-10-29

He paid for dinner then asked for half on M-Pesa when I said I didn't feel a spark

Nairobi. First date at a nice place in Westlands, he insisted on paying (Ksh 6,800, we had nyama choma and two cocktails each). Walking to the parking he asked if I'd like to see him again. I said honestly I had a nice time but I don't feel that spark.

20 minutes later I'm in my Uber and I get an M-Pesa request for Ksh 3,400 with the message "since we're just friends 🙂".

I sent it because I was too shocked to argue. My friends are split between "petty" and "fair, he shouldn't fund a no". I think the smiley face is what's killing me

29 sparks · 12 comments

Comments

Hugo Sánchez · 14 likes

honestly I think it's fair. he's not entitled to a second date and she's not entitled to a free meal. both can be true

Paolo Garcia · 9 likes

she didn't ask for a free meal though. he insisted

Elsa Andersson · 12 likes

if he wanted to split he should have split at the table. paying and then billing you depending on the answer is trying to buy a yes

Ngozi Bello · 8 likes

devil's advocate, a lot of guys feel used when they pay and get rejected. at least he was upfront about it

Noé Petit · 1 likes

upfront would be "shall we split?" at the restaurant. this is a refund policy

Brave River · 2 likes

the speed. 20 minutes. he had the request typed before you reached the uber

Lina Al Harbi · 2 likes

in Germany we split from date one so this situation literally can't happen. one more point for splitting

Youssef Mahmoud · 0 likes

the smiley face is doing violence

Linh Tran · 0 likes

Kenyan guy here, and no. this is embarrassing for all of us. you pay, you pay. if you can't take a no, don't insist on paying

Theo Bennett · 0 likes

you dodged a whole fleet of red flags. ksh 3,400 is the cheapest lesson you'll ever get

Irene López · 0 likes

send him a request for your uber with "since we're just friends 🙂"

Sleepy Lantern · 0 likes

In India this would be screenshotted and in every group chat by morning. red