The Escape Room

I suggested an escape room for a first date because I’d read it shows how someone handles pressure. It does. I handled it by reading every clue aloud in a voice I’ve never used before and accusing a padlock of lying to me. We didn’t escape. The host let us out after the hour with the face of a man who watches this exact collapse every Saturday. She thanked him, not me. She never replied to my “same time next week?” text. That was the real puzzle. I’m still locked in it.

You paid to be trapped in a room while a stranger watched you fail. Your job does that for free.