Man sparks confusion after claiming he ‘invented’ drinking wine with his girlfriend

‘Bro discovered hanging out,’ replies one user

A man has gone viral after revealing the date night tradition he “invented” with his girlfriend.

Collin Rutherford, 26, took to X - formerly Twitter - on 4 March to share a selfie of him and his girlfriend each holding a bottle of wine. He explained that the couple were taking part in what they dubbed as “bottle night,” a tradition they started while stuck in a blizzard in 2023.

“Do you know what a ‘bottle night’ is? Probably not, because my gf and I invented it during a 2023 blizzard in Buffalo, NY,” Rutherford began his post. “We lock our phones away, turn the TV off… Each grab a bottle of wine, and talk. That’s it, we simply talk and enjoy each other’s presence.”

The Greenbox Storage founder admitted that although they live together, it’s “easy” for them to “miss out on ‘quality time’” with each other. “What do you think? Do you have other methods for enjoying quality time with your partner?” he asked.

While Rutherford had asked fellow users to chime in with their own date night suggestions, instead his replies were flooded with confused responses to his claim that he “invented” drinking and hanging out with his partner.

“Bro discovered hanging out,” joked one person in response to Rutherford’s post.

“This dude thinks him and his girlfriend ‘invented’ getting drunk and hanging out,” another replied.

A third user wrote: “Obsessed with rebranding the concept of just hanging out.”

Some people took to the comments to criticise Rutherford, with claims that he and his girlfriend must drink alcohol in order to enjoy each other’s company.

“So you each need a bottle of wine to converse with each other?!” said one person, while someone else commented: “I invented talking to my girlfriend. We both have to get hammered though or it doesn’t work.”

Despite the backlash, Rutherford was quick to hit back at trolls criticising his “bottle night” with some cheeky replies. When one person commented, “And yet you felt compelled to post about it,” he jokingly responded: “How else am I going to go viral?”

Meanwhile, others took it upon themselves to defend the couple for their date night tradition.

“No idea why everyone’s dunking on this, it’s a cute little tradition they have and he’s handling the replies well,” said one person, while another wrote: “Y’all know I hate defending men, but this is fine. I think it’s cool to be publicly proud about how you and your gf get wine-bottle-blasted and spend time with each other either; no distractions. Saying you ‘invented’ it is weird, but who cares. This rocks.”

Speaking to The Independent, Rutherford brushed off negative remarks from critics commenting on his relationship. “I just laugh at these people,” he noted.

The Dartmouth College alum and his girlfriend, Miranda, have been dating for nearly two years. He explained how they sparked up the idea for “bottle night” after being stuck in Miranda’s apartment for seven days straight during a winter storm. “There was a driving ban so we couldn’t leave. All we could do was walk to a nearby liquor store. So we did just that,” Rutherford said. “We decided to put our phones down, keep the TV off, and simply talk and enjoy each others’ presence. That week strengthened our relationship in a major way.”

While many users poked fun at Rutherford’s use of the term “invented” in his post, the storage company entrepreneur maintained that he never claimed to reinvent the wheel. “I started to respond to the comments but then it really just became too much to respond to. I kept it positive and poked fun back at a lot of the people,” he explained. “Obviously, I don’t say that I invented hanging out with your significant other. I simply invented the name I use for it. I’ve since stopped even looking at the comments.”

Whether it’s “bottle night” or date night, Rutherford agreed that spending time together - regardless of the activity - can positively impact any relationship, even his own.

“It’s easy to go through the motions with your partner. You sit and watch TV, you sleep next to each other, but when was the last time you had a truly deep conversation with your partner with zero distraction?” he added. “Our relationship is always stronger after a bottle night.”