A man paying on the first date should not be mistaken for a pre-nup. It isn't a promise to pay for evermore. When a couple know each other a little better they will exchange many things, including liquidity, a consensual agreement between adults. After a fourth date with a woman who earned more than him but had never picked up the tab, a friend of mine reached across and took a large spoonful of her pudding. "That's mine," she protested. "No it's mine," he replied, "I'm going to have to pay for it.