My Dating Allergy
I know I’ve mentioned a time or two before that I am violently allergic to dating. It just seems profoundly unappealing.
A couple of months ago, I talked about my relationship status, and came to the conclusion it could best be defined as “friend”. Or, if you prefer, “independent”.
I’m watching a few of my real life and online friends go through the process of dating again, and frankly it looks unpleasant from the outside. Dating sites, uncomfortable dates, miscommunication, friends with benefits, bad sex, good sex but no call, and just generally playing the game.
New (but sure to be longtime) friend and kindred spirit Frances writes about this in her post hilariously titled Men Want Sex. And My Refusal to Become a Moose. She says, ” A few of us hold out, thinking that reason and humor and genuine affection is really what the “good” ones want.” Damn straight, I do! Oh, wait, she was talking about men.
Seriously, that’s *me*, too. I don’t play hard to get, I have no clue about the game and I opt out!
Not to mention that as I see it, of the couple of hundred adults I know, it breaks down like this:
- 70% or so are married or in long term relationships
- 10% are gay or lesbian, and see above
- 10% are hot, brilliant, funny, interesting women who are either looking or not looking, variously
- 9% are attractive, brilliant, funny, interesting men who are completely uninterested and even actively avoidant of women, relationships and commitment (although some aren’t averse to sex if they can get it)
- 1% is open to a relationship but the night nurse at the psych ward won’t let him use the phone to call Courtney Love anymore
Seriously – many women remain eternally hopeful, but I only know one or two men who have not pretty much given up and become hermits. These are not good odds.
Let’s define the terms – maybe in a continuum?
Dating: two people formally spend time together with the goal of a potential romantic relationship.
Relationship: the dictionary defines this as a “romantic or passionate attachment” – although, technically, everyone has business, fraternal or platonic relationships with nearly everyone in their lives.
Commitment: A committed relationship is an interpersonal relationship based upon a mutually agreed upon commitment to one another involving exclusivity, honesty, or some other agreed upon behavior (engagement, living together, etc.)
As I’ve said, I find the concept of dating bizarre from my mid-life perspective. I don’t have the patience for it, the capacity to play the games, or any tolerance for idiocy. I’d much rather spend a wonderful, comfortable evening with good friends of either gender, sharing good food, drinks, laughs and camaraderie and go home alone, than spend an awkward, painful evening with a near-stranger that might or might not end in uncomfortable sex and a nearly negligible chance of a call back in the future.
In the process, I build a life that I love with people who are my family of choice. If by chance I happen to stumble over a friend that surprises me, who makes me think about romance and a different kind of relationship, that’s an added bonus. I’m not looking for it; I’m not averse to it. (I’m probably way too busy for it!) Either way my life is enriched by great friends and time spent being truly myself.
Posted on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 by Jeri
Under: friends, rant | 11 Comments »
















