If I go on a date with a man at night and he doesn't check in with me afterward, doesn't send a quick text just to make sure I got home safe, there is no version of reality where I speak to him again. It doesn't matter how perfect the date was, how charming he was, how much chemistry there was at dinner, none of that means anything if he can't be bothered to make sure the woman he just spent hours with made it home in one piece. Even my girlfriends and I check in with each other after a night out, it’s just a given, a text saying “home safe” or a quick call, that’s the standard we hold with each other and it’s not even a conversation, it’s just what you do. It is such a small ask, it costs him nothing and yet it tells you everything about whether he actually thinks about your wellbeing when you're no longer in front of him or whether he only cares while you're both being entertaining to each other.