“I Had To Commit 100% At This Point”: Guy Explains How He Ruined His Romantic Relationship By Pretending Not To Know What A Potato Is
When it comes to food, you can’t get any more mundane than a potato. People know what it is, what it tastes like—it can quite literally be considered the symbol of vegetableness. Right up there with carrots and cabbage.
But what’s interesting about the potato is that the same mundane piece of cultivated vegetation is also one that has inspired things like the potato cannon. Oh, yeah, some factories make french fries using them. It’s wild.
It gets better, though. The potato has inspired this one guy to make a lasting impression on his girlfriend’s parents. All he needed to do was claim he’d never heard of potatoes when served one during dinner.
Chaos and mayhem ensued.
More Info: Reddit
Who knew a vegetable as mundane as a potato could inspire so much chaos and a good story to tell strangers online?
Image source: sethoscope (not the actual photo)
So, anonymous Reddit user u/NotKnowPotato has shared a story, a “Today I [Goofed] Up” one, about his attempt at impressing his girlfriend’s parents during a get-to-know dinner. So, it was paramount for him to make a good first impression.
OP chose to go the comedic route. After all, it’s a great way to break the ice and establish common ground, right? Especially when it comes to joking about potatoes, how could you go wrong?
He found a way.
And by story, we mean this guy who decided to pretend he’d never had or even heard of potatoes during a “meet the parents” dinner
Image source: NotKnowPotato
Everyone was served baked potatoes. OP, having engaged comedy mode, looked like the vegetable had piqued his interest. He seemed confused, astounded, even. “This looks very interesting. What is this?”
Dumbfounded by the question, the mother explained what it was, and OP continued with his scenario: “A ‘potato,’ oh, interesting. Never heard of a potato, looks pretty good.”
Now, everything could have been all fine and dandy, but OP had just passed the point of no return because the parents didn’t get it, and he couldn’t just admit it. He’s in too deep. Gotta stay committed. It’s no longer a joke.
At first it was a lighthearted joke, but it soon turned into a commitment—wouldn’t want to embarrass yourself, right?
Image source: NotKnowPotato
Image source: Zeetz Jones (not the actual photo)
A short back and forth about potatoes—how OP had never eaten, let alone heard of one—the girlfriend grew hella embarrassed, and the parents were growing very untrusting of his every word regarding the spud. He was, however, 100% committed to the narrative. In fact, the more the parents grew suspicious of OP, the more he committed.
And it spiraled out of control.
The more committed OP was, the more untrusting the parents grew, culminating in shouting and being booted from the parents’ home
Image source: NotKnowPotato
The parents, moreso the father, grew very annoyed, first asking if OP was messing with them (he “wasn’t,”) which grew into irrational yelling. It escalated so quickly that the boyfriend soon found himself being asked to leave. All because of a very committed joke about potatoes.
He couldn’t back away now. Next thing you know, he is now texting his girlfriend that he seriously doesn’t know what a potato is. “The only way I can ever get out of this is for them to buy that I don’t know what a potato is,” concluded OP.
People online liked it, though, and nearly 47,000 upvotes makes it hard to call it a screwup, despite being posted on the appropriate subreddit
But, let’s be fair, did he really screw up? Folks online were more than entertained and impressed with the genius of OP’s commitment. Some even suggested one-upping his own idea and then creating this entire backstory of how his parents always tried to keep him away from potatoes and then being all melodramatic. And if things were to reach a break-up point, OP should have also not known the meaning of a breakup. Profit.
Also, the post got nearly 47,000 upvotes with over 70 Reddit awards and that surely counts for something, right? Whatever the case, here’s the post in context and below is the direction you need to go to tell us your thoughts and perhaps potato dating stories in the form of comments!
OP needs to grow up a LOT before attempting to date. If he is "aghast" at the idea of joining his girlfriend's family for dinner, and thinks the way to be socially acceptable is to be a clown, he had a ton to learn about social skills.
Ah come on, it's his 2nd ever girlfriend & it's nerve racking for anyone the first time meeting the parents. Also, if he'd been genuinely funny it would have been great. This whole story really made me laugh though cos sometimes our brains/humour just let us down and we end up bombing 😂😂😂
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I'm sorry, who does this!? I'd have left him on the side of the road and found myself an actual adult. I have second hand embarrassment for the poor girl.
He sounds like a complete loser. The fact that people are cheering him on is depressing.
Exactly! The whole tone of it reads like those horrible texts where the person narrates their own reactions *blushes furiously* while texting.
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I love this. Idk why people are so mad. I think this is fucken hilarious. I just assume it was a Seinfeld episode. Lol. Like, all of the people talking s**t haven't done something soooo dumb that to this day makes them cringe thinking about!? there isn't a single thing you've done that makes you say "wtf was I thinking?" .... if not then you're either a fucken liar or you've never been in public.
This is by far the funniest thing I've read on this site. That includes the comments.
"Never go full potato" is now my philosophy for life.
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I honestly love this! It's hilarious. And if OP's girlfriend doesn't get his sense of humour, they probably aren't best suited to each other.
But he hasn't admitted it is a joke. He ruined the supper. How is it funny? Even he isn't laughing. He admitted that this is his 2nd girl friend "of all time." Try this on your girl friend (if you have one) and play dumb. "I don't know what a fork is so I am going to eat with my fingers at your parents and embarrass you."
Load More Replies... TL;DR: guy pretends to not know what a potato is, bored panda hates it for some reason
Kid has social issues and seems to be on the spectrum, the amount of people attacking him over this is absolutely scary. Our population of ASD has ballooned in the past 30 years because professionals now know how to help before these kids were put in a room with a crayon all day, now they learn huge vocabularies and have big imaginations. But socially awkward. HAVE SOME COMPASSION FOR DIFFERENTLY ABLED PEOPLE, NEURODEVELOPMENTAL POPULATIONS. It's a funny story and I'm happy he is dating.this story is almost 8-9 years old to boot..
Since OP was so transparent about his social gaffe, and his rationale, surely he would have mentioned if he was on the spectrum (Perhaps he was undiagnosed). No one is hating here, OP himself admitted it was a foolish act and he was fully aware of its effect on others. It took guts to admit to a goof like that!
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I'm sorry but I have another take on this...if you serious about this girl? Explain that you were just nerveous and then too embaressed to tell you were joking. Or are you going to keep on lying? Which is not goin to end well. You have had enough cues to come clean...and I'm sure those parents would have warmed up to you after a while. Now you've made your girlfriend look like a moron as well for bringing you along. Those people must have thought you were Captain Caveman or played them for fools. Can't say I blame them. Defuse the situation as soon as possible before you get a label of 'distrustfull as well and make their daughter take the blame for bringing home an idiot. How funny this may seem to others, be a man and at least be honest. The sooner, the better! Or do you need your father to send a letter you were never introduced to potatoes? Let's throw your whole family under the bus, won't you? Maybe you'll laugh at this in a few years or stay single...what are you? 5???
Well damn, OP sure is a good storyteller - I'm annoyed just reading his antics. It's a joke that should have died in the womb. Whaaaat a dumbass. (would love to know if his a*s got dumped since its 7yo post)
The guy sounds like a total idiot. I recommend the OP finds herself a different boyfriend.
Yeah, I don't find this amusing either. Whether it's real or not is beside the point. Basically, not being able to admit when one has made a mistake is truly not a good trait to have. So, instead of admitting he was trying to make a joke and failed, he doubles down. Not being able to handle failure is another bad trait to have. I think the dad behaving so irately was not called for. This kid still needs to grow up. A joke is only funny if everyone finds it amusing, if not, than he's just being an immature jerk.
If this really happened - and that's a big if - then this person's mental acuity is probably less than the potatoes he claimed not to know about. I have no idea why anyone would actually claim to be this stupid.
We let him tell us and shame on us for that because this was a dumb story
OP needs to grow up a LOT before attempting to date. If he is "aghast" at the idea of joining his girlfriend's family for dinner, and thinks the way to be socially acceptable is to be a clown, he had a ton to learn about social skills.
Ah come on, it's his 2nd ever girlfriend & it's nerve racking for anyone the first time meeting the parents. Also, if he'd been genuinely funny it would have been great. This whole story really made me laugh though cos sometimes our brains/humour just let us down and we end up bombing 😂😂😂
Load More Replies... I'm sorry, who does this!? I'd have left him on the side of the road and found myself an actual adult. I have second hand embarrassment for the poor girl.
He sounds like a complete loser. The fact that people are cheering him on is depressing.
Exactly! The whole tone of it reads like those horrible texts where the person narrates their own reactions *blushes furiously* while texting.
Load More Replies... I love this. Idk why people are so mad. I think this is fucken hilarious. I just assume it was a Seinfeld episode. Lol. Like, all of the people talking s**t haven't done something soooo dumb that to this day makes them cringe thinking about!? there isn't a single thing you've done that makes you say "wtf was I thinking?" .... if not then you're either a fucken liar or you've never been in public.
This is by far the funniest thing I've read on this site. That includes the comments.
"Never go full potato" is now my philosophy for life.
Load More Replies... I honestly love this! It's hilarious. And if OP's girlfriend doesn't get his sense of humour, they probably aren't best suited to each other.
But he hasn't admitted it is a joke. He ruined the supper. How is it funny? Even he isn't laughing. He admitted that this is his 2nd girl friend "of all time." Try this on your girl friend (if you have one) and play dumb. "I don't know what a fork is so I am going to eat with my fingers at your parents and embarrass you."
Load More Replies... TL;DR: guy pretends to not know what a potato is, bored panda hates it for some reason
Kid has social issues and seems to be on the spectrum, the amount of people attacking him over this is absolutely scary. Our population of ASD has ballooned in the past 30 years because professionals now know how to help before these kids were put in a room with a crayon all day, now they learn huge vocabularies and have big imaginations. But socially awkward. HAVE SOME COMPASSION FOR DIFFERENTLY ABLED PEOPLE, NEURODEVELOPMENTAL POPULATIONS. It's a funny story and I'm happy he is dating.this story is almost 8-9 years old to boot..
Since OP was so transparent about his social gaffe, and his rationale, surely he would have mentioned if he was on the spectrum (Perhaps he was undiagnosed). No one is hating here, OP himself admitted it was a foolish act and he was fully aware of its effect on others. It took guts to admit to a goof like that!
Load More Replies... I'm sorry but I have another take on this...if you serious about this girl? Explain that you were just nerveous and then too embaressed to tell you were joking. Or are you going to keep on lying? Which is not goin to end well. You have had enough cues to come clean...and I'm sure those parents would have warmed up to you after a while. Now you've made your girlfriend look like a moron as well for bringing you along. Those people must have thought you were Captain Caveman or played them for fools. Can't say I blame them. Defuse the situation as soon as possible before you get a label of 'distrustfull as well and make their daughter take the blame for bringing home an idiot. How funny this may seem to others, be a man and at least be honest. The sooner, the better! Or do you need your father to send a letter you were never introduced to potatoes? Let's throw your whole family under the bus, won't you? Maybe you'll laugh at this in a few years or stay single...what are you? 5???
Well damn, OP sure is a good storyteller - I'm annoyed just reading his antics. It's a joke that should have died in the womb. Whaaaat a dumbass. (would love to know if his a*s got dumped since its 7yo post)
The guy sounds like a total idiot. I recommend the OP finds herself a different boyfriend.
Yeah, I don't find this amusing either. Whether it's real or not is beside the point. Basically, not being able to admit when one has made a mistake is truly not a good trait to have. So, instead of admitting he was trying to make a joke and failed, he doubles down. Not being able to handle failure is another bad trait to have. I think the dad behaving so irately was not called for. This kid still needs to grow up. A joke is only funny if everyone finds it amusing, if not, than he's just being an immature jerk.
If this really happened - and that's a big if - then this person's mental acuity is probably less than the potatoes he claimed not to know about. I have no idea why anyone would actually claim to be this stupid.
We let him tell us and shame on us for that because this was a dumb story
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