Did I overreact to him not paying on a first date?

I had a friend tell me about a date recently, and I’ve been thinking about the pattern. First date. Normal dinner. When the check came, the guy didn’t really react. Just looked at it, stayed on his phone. No offer, no acknowledgment. After a few seconds of silence, she ended up paying. Not really about the money. What stood out to her was the lack of response in the moment—like there was no awareness that anything was happening socially. He then asked if she wanted to go get drinks like everything was normal. Later he texted saying he had a great time. From a more observational “pattern” perspective, this is something I’ve seen come up a lot lately in dating dynamics. It’s not about intent. It’s about presence. Some people are physically in the situation, but not tracking the social moment in real time. And once that disconnect shows up, everything after it feels slightly off. I’m curious if others would read this as just awkwardness… or something more indicative. Maybe he was nervous, maybe it’s a different dating style. But for me, it’s about basic presence, not just going through the motions. Later he texted saying he had a great time and wanted to see me again, and I just thought… does he not realize how that came across? So I’m wondering—am I being too picky, or is this actually a pretty telling first-date moment? If this pattern feels familiar in your own dating experiences, it may be worth looking at it more deeply in your personal situation. You can explore this further through a 1:1 reading.