Socio-Economic Relationships

As of this month it has been 5 years since I have been on a date. I don't really know how it happened or why. And somewhere along these past 5 years, I have realized that I stopped caring about it. When I was a teenager the whole idea of dating seemed so exciting and now that I am almost 30 (AHH!) I find that it just seems like a lot of work that causes more stress than it is worth. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy spending time with members of the opposite sex. But the whole dating thing has become a catalyst to hide in my closet until the monsters go away.

I wasn't always like this. I used to enjoy going to the movies, being asked to go hiking, or just grocery shopping. But the last time I invited a guy to go to a movie with me he acted like I had asked him to be a sperm donor and co-parent any subsequent offspring. And then he never talked to me again. When did dating, or just friendship with members of the opposite sex, become so hard? My best friend and I recently had a conversation about this. For some of us eligible women out there our male peers seem to see us as gender neutral. The male enjoys spending time with us, watching movies, talking to us, etc... But when it come to dating we are not the girls who get asked out. We are good enough to be the "best friend" but not good enough to be the "girlfriend" or "The Wife." So we sit at home on Friday nights watching our imaginary friends on TV having adventures and doing things we would never do. Or we do what I have done: We declare that we are on a dating sabbatical, take ourselves to the movies and pretend that we are not bleeding inside because no one wants us. And why does no one want us? We have no idea.