I am always fascinated by articles I read about dating nowadays. It’s fun to see that other people are observing this painfully intricate dance of pretending and indifference that has become normalcy for courtship. I’m not sure when this change occurred. I like to think it happened right when I graduated college because that’s just the kind of luck I have and how lovely it would be to not only be thrown into the financial crisis but a nonchalant dating scene as well. Double whammy.

The article that made me want to expand on my experience in the human hustle is this thought catalogue article. Not only does it outline everything I find deplorable about dating, but it reveals a very true and sad undercurrent of fear and insecurity that has manifested itself in the worst ways. Most of those “trends” are a direct result of protection. Nobody wants to get hurt. However, in some cases heartbreak is inevitable. I think people need to stop being so terrified to experience something that brings us together. Breakups are awful, but so is letting someone you actually care about get away in hopes of preserving your feelings that have gotten hurt anyway because that person thinks you don’t give a shit about them, do you see this awful cycle? Showing someone you like them and want to see them shouldn’t be this entirely shameful action where you feel pathetic for wanting to see someone you like. Oh, especially if the feelings are mutual. It’s beyond me why people can only hang out a few times a month so as not to seem too interested in each other. Ridiculous. Honestly, I wonder if it’s because we’re all basically told everyday that our attention spans are continuously waning. Maybe that’s where the apprehension comes in. If you hang out with someone too much you’ll start to get bored. Well then isn’t it better to happen sooner rather than spending months figuring it all out? I’m rambling.

There was this other thing I saw on Imgur that was a screenshot of some dude ~~trying~~ RELENTLESSLY trying to speak with a lady he was ~~kind of~~ desperately enamored by. Though the way she dealt with the situation was not to tell him she wasn’t interested, but to use one of those popular dating tactics of ignoring someone like they’re one of those ghosts in Super Mario and if hold Y and down Mario turns into that statue and the ghost(s) won’t see you. The pathetic guy is the ghost in that incredibly convoluted scenario. Anyway, all this girl had to do was say, NOT INTERESTED, instead of allowing this dude to continuously message her for months on end.( I won’t get into how incredibly strange it is these kids are called “thirsty.” It sounds super gross. Thirsty for what!?) It seems like one of those situations where maybe the recipient of these messages was getting I dunno a bit of an ego boost from this poor guy? It’s awful to put things like that on the internet, because people have feelings.

What I’ve been meaning to say, before going off on many tangents, is we shouldn’t be so scared to get hurt and we shouldn’t be so hesitant to show how we feel. I’ve totally witnessed and embarrassingly participated in perpetuating these “trends,” and I can say wholeheartedly say they suck and rarely lead to positive results. That’s just me, though. Also, I’m pretty positive I have no idea what I’m doing 98% of the time. The whole “dating game” has completely eluded me. Rarely do I find myself excited about potential fellows for those very trends I can barely keep up with and follow. Though, I must say I am totally content with “dat single life” right now.