The Modern Dating Scene a.k.a. Why I am happy I am not single

There are times when I am happy I am in a relationship and others when I think: Oh to be single and free again.

Note: I was a serial monogamist and cannot recall a single moment in my life where I was actively SINGLE by choice and I regret this decision. It would have been nice to have just been alone. Instead, I just went from one relationship to another.

Then.. I realized the other day that I am very, VERY happy to be in a committed, relatively hassle-free, normal relationship with someone whom I have been with for a long time and hope to be with for the rest of my life. Oh, and we have a great Baby Bun as a result.

Where is all of this coming from?

There is a colleague who is “single” and looking. I think.

He may even be engaging in a little ‘mate poaching’ (read Aziz Ansari’s hilarious and very interesting, factual book called Modern Romance), because he basically zeroed in on me the first day I arrived at work and had been trying to find ways to talk to me since then.

He has sort of backed off since I have been repeating ad nauseam about how wonderful my partner is, and how much I love my Baby Bun (all true), but it doesn’t stop him from inviting me out and hinting heavily that he’d pay for everything.

Then to top it off, he initially told me he was single, but then suddenly, after I gently deflect off his advances, he mentions his girlfriend is moving into a building next door.

I don’t care, let’s be clear, but which is it? Single or not? Or single and pretending to have someone … or worse, taken but still hunting?!?

Ugh. Let me just repeat:

I AM HAPPY TO BE TAKEN.

If singletons have to deal with this sort of nonsense and choose to engage in dating and actively searching for someone (although yes, you can be single and happy, and I fully support this), then I would opt out.

I would probably just try and stay single and go about my merry way, living happily and in a fulfilled manner with no ties to anyone.

You see, I am starting to sort of get why he was (is?) single.

Boiled down, he is an overgrown frat boy.

I do not know if this is a symptom of him being older and still not having found THE ONE, but he is basically a guy who has outgrown college but cannot seem to let go of the lifestyle.

You know, the dating & dumping girls left and right, splashing money, drinking every weekend, going to party and gamble without any responsibilities or cares in the world (none of which I thought he had, but if he has a girlfriend she may not be so keen on him going to Vegas on his own to ‘party with the boys’).

He still meets up and has friends who are into clubbing (all younger than him at this point, as the rest of his similarly aged friends are all married with kids), and the whole thing at the end is I don’t think he even knows he comes across like this to most girls.

Or at least, I am assuming.. I am part of the majority of women who would see this guy and think the same thing.

WHAT ARE SOME “OVERGROWN FRAT BOY” BEHAVIOURS?

“SHE IS SO HOT…AND SO IS SHE… OH MAN THE GIRLS…”

He talks about how hot all the women are that he meets — on vacation, his friends (who are married), or hitting on his friends’ kids’ friends who are in college.

He cannot have a conversation with me (maybe it’s just me), without having to mention SOME girl, or woman he knows, or happens to bring up, who is smoking hot.

Hey, all the power to these women (yes!!!), but I wonder if he is doing it to get a rise out of me (I don’t take the bait, I never do, I just stay rather amused at his confessions, which I am), and I also think he just…. likes a lot of women but can’t seem to settle down due to the abundance of choice.

“I could date HER. OR HER. Or her! Or if someone better comes along, her!”

Lots of FOMO* going on, I suspect. Too much choice. Always something better around the corner.

*FOMO = Fear of Missing Out

SEEMS TO HAVE ZERO CONCENTRATION

He never seems to calm down and concentrate on the conversation with you. I’m just a platonic friend (I hope that has been made clear to him), but he can’t seem to just focus on who he is with at the moment.

If he acts like this with potential dates, I can see why they get miffed.

BRAGGART TO THE NTH DEGREE

He keeps bragging about his accomplishments.

He keeps talking about how he makes so much as a freelancer (something REAL freelancers never say out loud or acknowledge in fear of inciting jealousy in anyone around them), and how he has so many properties (no idea how many right now), and seems to over-inflate his assets, hinting at how much money he has in the bank, bla bla bla.

Look, if he was filthy rich, he would be living in a penthouse or have a home in the most expensive area of town, and not be working. Period. He would be chilling out, drinking, with a supermodel on each arm, doing nothing at all and making bank.

I don’t think these guys with a new, hot girl every night are any happier than the ones who have someone who has found someone to settle down with, but that’s just my feeling.

Otherwise, if you’re sitting beside me in a cubicle, you’re all working towards retirement like the rest of us. Some are going to get there sooner than others, but we are ALL WORKING because we NEED THE MONEY.

Amirite?

SEEMS TO WANT YOUNG, HOT COLLEGE GIRLS

Trying to openly admit that you’re hitting on young college girls who are 20-somethings, and saying: “how can I ever get that!?“, not only objectifies women and turns them into trophy objects to win, but just makes you look like a perverted douchebag.

This is great for a sexual fantasy for some people but for someone to spend your life with?

Are you actively looking for a partner or just a good time? Don’t get the two confused, you’re just too old for that. And unless you’re rich, don’t even bother. Money seems to buy anything you want (although there are some people whom you can’t buy..)

Guys with good sense and a filter, may THINK that once in a while, but they would never say it. At least not in mixed company. Even if it’s a joke, it’s one in bad taste.

I’m trying to think of my partner saying that to a friend if he were single, or even if he was taken and joking, and it seems like an impossibility.

Also, looks are not everything. Someone with a great personality, who is smart/sensible, with a good work ethic and a generous heart will beat out someone with a pretty or handsome face for me, any day.

You can only admire looks for so long before they fade and what is left, is who they are at their core.

Pick a good core, forget about the outer shell because it fades and wrinkles hopefully after plenty of solid years together where you bring out the best (and sometimes the worst) in each other.

Or maybe that’s just me.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL YOU SINGLETONS

You will need it. I’m sorry. I just realized how hard it is for you out there if you are past college-age and working.

It is HARD to find someone. Like seriously HARD. Then it is hard to find a GOOD someone. My goodness.

But there are good people out there still waiting to be noticed and taken, but they might take a bit of time to find after you sift through the rocks to find the gold.

I however, am happy that I am settled. I have never been happier.

I really hope I never have to be thrown back into the pool willingly.