Dating in today’s age is hard as it is. Dating apps suck. People are either completely ready for a commitment on the first date…or never… at all. And I’m sick of it. Though I may not know what dating was like “back in the day,” technology has definitely made an impact on how we view and treat relationships.
Everyday I scroll through social media seeing couple after couple, just reminding me how single I really am. But are those relationships all they’re cracked up to be? Constantly being anxious if your significant other is secretly Snapchatting others? How easy it is to cover up your tracks? Call me Olivia Rodrigo, but in today’s world of dating, it’s brutal out here.
I’ve gotten to the point where it’s not me, it’s you. I figured out who I am, my attachment styles and tendencies, and somewhat what I look for in a person. Since the start of Covid-19, I have noticed such a change in, well, everything. I am not as outgoing as I used to be, so maybe my taste is different. It’s harder to meet people, so back to the dating apps I go…which just starts this awful cycle of the thrill of swiping and finding mediocre matches or being completely selective and having close to none, then talking to them and expecting the conversations to go well, but half the time they end there. Trying to meet people at the bars is tricky too because I haven’t been to the bars in ages, scared I’m inevitably going to become sick.
There is the idea of a “meet-cute” in a library or elsewhere. Meaning: I go to the library, sit down and focus on my work or what not, then a handsome stranger (masked of course) walks up to me and starts an amazing conversation about something ethical…yeah that’s never going to happen. And what if they mask-fish me!
I don’t know the answer—if there even is one—to this never ending question, but I guess that’s the whole point of dating in your 20s. You and me, we’re in this together.