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More often than not, dating in L.A. can feel like trying to find street parking in the Arts District: You know it exists and you see other people who’ve made it happen, but you just can’t quite make it work for yourself. But wait! You finally find an open spot—just to discover it doesn’t have enough room for your car and only allows permit parking (we think we’re still metaphorically talking about dating).
So we polled our readers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to find out their biggest Los Angeles-specific red flags when it comes to dating. We pulled out some of our favorite responses below, which, as you might expect, include plenty of opinions about actors, neighborhoods and the 405.
They use an acting headshot as their dating profile photo.
It’s a near-certainty that they’re going to ask you to hit the record button on their audition tapes.
They’re not interested in trying new restaurants.
Have fun getting to know the menu at Five Guys from front to back.
They won’t drive to the opposite side of the 405.
We received responses about people on both sides of the 405, so Angelenos clearly have some strong feelings about crossing the city’s most-maligned freeway for a date. It can be an admittedly awful commute, sure, but if someone’s not even willing to attempt to put in the effort, consider this relationship stuck in gridlock.
Their dating profile job description has too many slashes.
You’re a writer/director? Alright, neat. Oh, you say you’re a producer/entrepreneur/DJ? Hmm, alright. A life coach/consultant/actor/dreamer? …No.
They won’t go to the Valley.
Like the 405, we saw comments on both sides of this commute-related hang-up. But we’re taking sides here: If you’re chatting with someone who thinks they’re too good for the Valley, then you’re probably too good for them.
They already want to take a trip to Napa by the third date.
We even had one person respond that they had someone float this trip after the first date. Seven hours in a car each way, a shared bedroom and too much wine: What could possibly go wrong?
They start a sentence with “we should totally…”
Translation: It’s never going to actually happen.
They only have friends in the industry.
You’ve gone this long avoiding get stuck in the entertainment industry bubble—don’t give up now.
They’re rude to waiters and hospitality workers.
There’s no excuse for this one. Watching how people treat service workers can be a pretty potent litmus test for how they treat just about everyone else.
They do sit-ups at red lights while driving.
While this one never crossed our mind before, this response was so oddly specific that we had to include it. And you know, yes, this absolutely does sound like a red flag.
They don’t actually live in L.A.
“I live Downtown, how about you?”
“I’m just a bit southeast of there.”
“Cool, I can pick you up then.”
“Great! Here’s my address.”
*proceeds to give a Fullerton address*