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“I’d Never Marry the Kind of People I Usually Date”
Decoding this contradicting view of my single friends
“So, how’s your dating life going these days now that the pandemic has calmed down a bit?”
I asked an old friend as we caught up over a call after quite some time.
“Nothing exciting man! Haven’t had the time to date, plus I am no longer the same guy. I want to settle down with a nice girl now,” came the response.
I dated my wife for a couple of years before marrying her five years ago, so I had been out of the dating world for quite some time. Dating to me had mostly been about exploring the possibility of something long-term — of course, it doesn’t always work out, but that’s usually the goal. Hence, I was a bit surprised to think why dating was any different than trying to find a nice girl, so I asked:
“So, none of the ones you’d dated in the past or have been in touch with qualify as nice girls?”
Trying to be politically correct, he responded — “No, no, no! I don’t mean it that way. It’s just that I am past the dating scene now and want to get into something only when it’s serious and for the long term.”
It still made no sense to me. But I let it go until I had that same conversation with many other single friends.
