Conversation overheard at a restaurant

November 04, 2025

AITA for telling a guy it’s a dealbreaker if he wouldn’t protect me from an axe murderer?

During a casual date, a lighthearted question about dealbreakers turned into a full-blown argument about basic instincts and gender roles — all because of a hypothetical axe murderer.

It started as harmless small talk. A woman asked her date if he had any dealbreakers, and he returned the question. She said she didn’t really have any — except for “profane tattoos” or a man who wouldn’t fight off an axe murderer if one broke into their home. He laughed and said even if they were married with kids, he still wouldn’t fight; he’d just accept his fate. The playful tone vanished instantly.

I thought we were joking around, but when he seriously said he’d rather die than try to defend us, I realized it wasn’t just a joke — it was a glimpse into who he really is, and that ended it for me.

The conversation quickly turned tense. She explained that expecting a man to at least *try* to protect his partner wasn’t about macho pride — it was about care and instinct. He called that “a myth,” claiming she was projecting unrealistic standards. When she pushed further, asking what he’d actually do if someone broke in, he flatly said, “I’d probably just die. My lamp or whatever won’t work against an axe.”

"We could be married with two kids and I still wouldn’t fight off an axe murderer."

She tried to clarify whether he was joking. He wasn’t. He said he didn’t believe in risking his life “pointlessly” and that expecting him to do so was “ass backwards.” To her, that sealed it — she saw it as a reflection of how he’d behave in any crisis. What began as flirty banter ended in a fundamental disagreement about courage, responsibility, and attraction.

"If you wouldn’t defend us from an axe murderer, that’s a total ‘check please’ dealbreaker."

After that exchange, the vibe was gone. The date fizzled out, and the conversation ended with her politely saying she couldn’t see a future with someone whose first instinct was surrender. He thought she was being dramatic; she thought he’d just confessed to emotional cowardice.

🏠 The Aftermath

They didn’t go on another date. She later shared the story online, half amused and half disturbed by how calmly he described doing nothing in a life-or-death situation.

Friends were split: some said she was right to walk away, others said expecting anyone to fight an axe murderer was ridiculous. But to her, it wasn’t about axes — it was about instinct and partnership.

For him, it seemed like just another failed date with mismatched expectations; for her, it was a dealbreaker that revealed more than any romantic compa