I have a few friends who are in the midst, the throes? Of dating. None of them seem to be having much fun. I’ve not really ever actually dated. I fell instantly in love with Samantha and pursued her like a dog for years until she decided to give me a try. This was prior to the invention of the iPhone, of course.

Abby was introduced to me by my mom. We went on one date then hangout every day for over a decade (or near enough to every day). This was after the invention of the iPhone but we didn’t need it.

The only engagement I had with dating, online or otherwise, was in the foolish days of my polyamory, and that hardly counts. The thing that wounds so deeply all of these people dating is the seriousness, or lack there of, of it all. When you already have a partner and you’re just greedy and stupid, those stakes are not there, it’s mostly just fun and amusing, or at least bemusing, or maybe bewitching?

The idea of trying to find an actual partner over the internet seems insane.

Jack is the only one who has done it in any sort of way that makes any damned sense. Hyper-specific, with a global openness to that special person. (technically this was Elena’s approach and not Jack’s, but that’s fine for the point of this post)

By the same token, having access to every person on the planet, a functionally infinite number of hot ladies and dudes, tends to inspire one feeling in people: dissatisfaction. There could be someone better just a swipe away!

I have no answers, I’m just glad that those days are behind me.