When you first meet someone, it can sometimes feel like a game of balancing green and red flags. They love to read? Green flag. The only thing they read is Reddit threads? Red flag. They’re a dog person? Green flag. They let their dog eat out of their mouth? One man’s green, another man’s red. In the early stages of dating, you’re doing so much color work that you can feel like Pantone. 

But first impressions can be deceiving. People get nervous and come across as weird, or you can misinterpret what they say because you don’t know them well enough. We also have our preconceived notions about behavior that might be misguided or informed by negative experiences from past partners. Luckily, we have the council of Reddit to help us navigate the murky waters of social interaction. A recent thread helped suss out the dating red flags that actually turn green upon closer inspection.