I've been meeting a lot of new people lately, and new people like to ask why I'm single. My friends almost never ask, and it's not something I ponder all the time naturally, but since it's come up repeatedly recently, I have pondered it a little. The short answer is: I don't know. I guess if I knew I would remedy it! I don't mind being single, and I'm happy, but I don't love it either, and I'm not consciously trying to be single. But since I've been pondering it, I thought I would share this little exchange, which illustrates one of the probable multitude of factors required to answer that question. Anonymous online dating guy's dialogue is in white, my dialogue is in grey.
Now, I suspected at this point that it wasn't going well. But I wasn't sure really. I have a hard time reading people, and I try to be really open-minded. His next post cleared it right up.
And here, I knew I'd crossed a line. But, like I said, I most def was not going to date him, and I really had some valuable dating insight for him if he was interested, so I wasn't just trying to be mean. He on the other hand, was probably trying to be mean.
Most of my dating interactions don't go this badly. Let's say only a third. Another third go better for a few dates, and then they implode. The last third are people I had great relationships with, and 90% of them are now married to someone else. I don't know why.
However! I don't worry about it. And here's one factor of why. Even though I'm single, and I had a Valentine's date that bailed, I had a wonderful Valentine's Day. I got Valentine's treats from my family and coworkers. I got Happy Valentine's Day texts from friends. I wrote a funny status on Facebook, and 20 of my friends "liked" it. A friend suggested I buy a particular book at Half Price Books, so I took my random bag of books to sell and headed to the Everett Mall after work. And I got lost. Who does that? Again, my friends don't even ask. I have a handheld GPS and GPS on my phone, and somehow I got from Bellevue to the Bothell/Mill Creek exit on 405, and the next thing I knew I was in Kenmore! But the lady in my GPS kept directing me back to the freeway, and I just got off the freeway so I didn't listen. So I got back to the freeway up at Ballinger Way, but by then I was really thirsty so I stopped at a convenience store for coffee. A guy sprinted across the parking lot to open the door for me, which is super nice. I finally got to Half Price Books, and they had one copy of the book I wanted for $5. Guess how much I got for the books I sold? $5! Plus a 10% off coupon, so I got cash back! And, they had computer problems, so the book buyer had to ask for my number several times. And in my head, I thought I've never been asked for my number so many times in one night! Lol. Then my date texted to bail, so I decided to go to Trader Joe's and buy fancy groceries. I shopped like a person who doesn't know how to shop, and went up and down every aisle several times, and not in order so I was actually there for quite a while. I got carded for my beer, which is always awesome. And when I got out to my car, someone had written Happy V-Day on my windshield with a heart around it. I looked around and didn't see anyone, and I drove slowly away, but no one else had their windshields written on. Doesn't that all seem like destiny? To get so randomly lost, and be at one store in time for that guy to open the door, and at the next store to find the book I wanted, and have just enough to buy it, and then be at the next store at a moment when someone would have the opportunity to write an anonymous Valentine on my windshield? So, my life is pretty magical, and I'm not spending too much time worrying about why I'm single. I'm too busy training my pet unicorn.
(For safety's sake, I tried to wash my Valentine off with my windshield washer, after I took half a dozen pictures, to no avail. But I didn't really mind. Yesterday I put some elbow grease into it, and my windshield was spotless, but when I got into my car last night and it was fogged up, you could see it clear as day again. Lol.)
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