Guy sends Bumble message about Bloody Sunday to Irishwoman and yeah, don't do this
There are some things you should definitely steer clear of mentioning when you're sending an opening message on a dating app. The Troubles in Northern Ireland is high up on that list.
Who would anyone do that, you may well be wondering? Well, we hereby present exhibit A as evidence of one of the very worst exchanges in Bumble history.
Irish Twitter user @Blaisinsquad tweeted screenshots of her interactions with a man in New York City.
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"Hey how's your Sunday goin," the messages began. "Or should I say Sunday Bloody Sunday."
"Cuz bono," he added. "Irish."
@Blaisinsquad suggested he give that reference a Google.
The bloke promptly Googled the term 'Bloody Sunday' and realised what it actually refers to — and the historic context behind the U2 song.
Bloody Sunday describes events that happened on Jan. 30 1972 in Derry, Northern Ireland, when 28 unarmed civilians were shot by British soldiers during a protest march. Fourteen people were killed during the incident.
@Blaisinsquad told Mashable she responded saying "you weren't to know," and thought that would be the end of their exchange. But he then asked her out for a drink.
"I politely declined," she said.
Not to sound harsh, but that was probably the right call.
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
