David Merkur, an investment banker from New York and member of Match.com, has used a spreadsheet to make sure he was able to distinguish between each of the eight women he was dating.
David Merkur, 28, used the Microsoft Excel tool to record details of each of the women’s characteristics as well as progress reports on how his dates with them went.
He told Jezebel.com he emailed the spreadsheet to Arielle, a woman he had dated, after their April 4 meeting because she “worked with spreadsheets a lot too”. Arielle then forwarded the document to a group of her friends two days later which helped turn the document viral.
David Merkur, who works for real-estate finance firm Ladder Capital, wrote to Arielle: “Well, this could be a mistake, but what the hell… figured I might as well give you the whole thing. I hope this email doesn’t backfire, because I really had a great time and hope to hang again soon :)”
Perhaps most concerning was that David Merkur passed on the information without removing the girls’ telephone numbers, email addresses, full names or details about their dates, such as how he scored their appearances.
Arielle then emailed her friends: “Wanted to pass this on to you for some monday morning entertainment. I went on a date with this guy last wednesday.
“On the date, he tells me that he has a spreadsheet for tracking all of the people from Match that are <<in process>>. Naturally, I tease him and ask him to send me the spreadsheet. For some strange reason, he actually does. See below/attached. Just when I thought I had seen it all…”
The spreadsheet was split into various categories including “Monitor closely” and “Monitor casually” columns. It detailed sent text messages and email exchanges as well as the venues in which Dave and his date met.
The document detailed his thoughts on the women’s physical appearances, giving each a score out of ten, with some being awarded a 7.0 or 7.5 for their “mixed bag of pictures” on the website.
Arranged in alphabetical order, Arielle, the woman he sent the email to, is top of the list. Not concerned with playing it cool, he failed to remove his thoughts on her including: “Hope to see again soon.”
But judging by her message as she forwarded the spreadsheet to her friends, it now seems unlikely.
And even though David Merkur hoped to see her again, he did not think to remove flattering details about his other dates including top scores for appearances, and the fact he’d “hooked up” with one of the girls at a party.
One entry read: “OK girl, but very jappy”, a slang word for “Jewish American princess”.
And for a man who treats women so well David Merkur deems it appropriate to make a spreadsheet just to remember their names, home towns and first dates, it is perhaps unsurprising that he wrote how one stood him up, claiming a friend was in hospital.
In a second page, David Merkur lists the women he has met through friends, rather than the dating website. With these women, he had the forethought to remove their identities.
David Merkur added in the email to Arielle: “I only deleted the non-match people’s names (at the bottom) since some I’ve known for a long time.”
He told Jezebel.com he now regrets making the spreadsheet, labeling it “an extraordinarily dumb decision”.
David Merkur then explained his thought process.
He said: “I work with spreadsheets a lot… it’s a great additional tool. I work long days, go to the gym, go out on a couple of midweek dates or what not, get home late… how am I going to remember them? I’m not.
“So I made the spreadsheet. My comments aren’t malicious or mean. This was an honest attempt to stay organized.”
David Merkur told The New York Post that he was sorry for making the document.
“I sincerely regret my serious lapse in judgment in this matter and apologise to everyone,” he said.
“I am deeply remorseful.”
Jezebel.com also spoke to the woman who had been described as “jappy”.
She said he was “fidgety” when the pair met, adding: “He got up to readjust himself a few times in the middle of our conversation, which was bizarre. He kept taking his glasses off and then putting them on again.”
In reference to the tag, she said she thought it was funny he had called her that, despite being shocked he had kept a spreadsheet in the first place.
She recalled David Merkur correctly identifying her designer handbag during their date, which probably led to the tag.
“He said his mom had it,” she said.
Speaking with the Post, David Merkur added: “Suffice it to say, I will never do anything like this again.”
