It’s Valentines Day; while everyone is basking in the day of love, here’s a list of the worst things about dating for the cynics out there.
- It’s all trial and error.
Whether you meet people through friends or a dating app like Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid, etc., you are going to meet a lot of people, and most of them are not going to work out. So you try the next person, then the next person, and the next person, over and over with little success. The whole experience is frustrating and drains you of any optimism about your relationship prospects. Not to mention, this repeated effort becomes exhausting after a while.
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- Trying to line up schedules
In high school, you have as much time as you want to go out with people, but in college your time is so divided between school, social life and possibly work. Free time becomes as precious as diamonds. If you try to date someone whose schedule does not compliment yours, trying to schedule a date needs strategic planning. The unfortunate thing, most people do not have schedules that will line up with yours.
- Having an excellent first encounter, then realizing neither of you have a connection.
You start talking to someone, hit off really well during your first encounter, then go on a second date and realize the two of you do not actually have a connection. It can be so relieving when you finally find someone who you instantly click with it, then immediately devastating when the second encounter goes nowhere, just awkward silence and small talk.
- Tons of initial small talk
It can be hard to think of topics to discuss with someone when you are unfamiliar with them, but one of the worst things you can both do is start small talk. We all know exactly what kind too, the back and forth of asking each other what their favorite things are, what they do, where they are from etc. You give the same answers over and over again with different people and it is always uninteresting. Not only that but it robs the two of you from discovering things about the other over time. If you essentially know everything about them upfront, what is the point of finding out more?
- The dating game is a drain on your confidence.
The process of going on date after failed date is a complete drain on your self-esteem. It makes you question if there is anything wrong with you, if you keep failing when the simple truth is dating is a numbers game. Every time there is a small bit of you that hopes the date might go somewhere, only to get those hopes dashed when it does not work out. Dating is frustrating, exhausting, and just makes you wish you were already in a relationship.
Ty Davis can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or @tydavisACW
