Welcome to 2018 IreviewUreaders!
In the last post, I vowed that I will make IreviewUread more interesting in 2018. One type of posts that I promised to add more of is lifestyle posts/mad thoughts posts. These posts are really sentimental to me for they are very personal. One of those things I hold close to my heart is my love life. Thus, today I'm going to touch on that - because nothing is really personal anymore is it?
Before I was together with the boyfriend, I was a flying butterfly. Flying around testing all the nectar. I was still pursuing my degree then. Thus, that means I have lots of weird assignments. One of the assignments I had was a free range topic. That means i can choose to write about anything. At that point of time, online dating was both a trend and a taboo at the same time. People would use them for the search of a fling and not a serious relationship. And I wonder why. Therefore, I decided to write about it.
Online dating always intrigued me because of the extreme reactions it gets. If you tell people that you are dating online, most of the time you get the adverse reaction. People automatically assumed that you're desperate when you try to find a partner from the internet. Why does it have to be that way? Modern technology is changing, the society is changing. Nobody goes to bars to find a potential partner anymore. You can't do that in clubs either, for all you know the person you hit on might be a guy.
If we can choose our groceries and shoes off the internet, why can't we choose a partner?
There's so much perks in online dating. You not only can do a background check - like what your Human Resource did to you - but you also get to analyse your targets. For those of you whom are more strong headed, this is the perfect place in search for the gentler guys and vice versa.
On the other hand, I do acknowledge that online dating have plenty of risks too. Such catfish and falling into the worlds of superficiality. Let's face it, this happens offline too. There's no way of avoiding all the risks be it online or offline. Therefore we have to face it or some other methods that's not under my field of expertise.
Imagine all the things you could have done if you just let go of the fear.
Thus, take a leap of fate and hop on online. If it doesn't work out - and most of the time it won't - it makes a good story. With that, I bring to you a small compilation of my online dating stories. That I went to because of research purposes.
Online Dating Horror Story 1 - Cut off the mole on your shoulder
This is the half a catfish date. As mentioned above catfishing is inevitable while online dating. You will eventually bump into one. That one will not look like their photo or used a very angled photo of them. Or group photos. Those are the worst for you have to guess which guy they are. Anyways, this guy used a photo of a polariod that captures photo of him behind another person. It's such a photoception. We hit it off pretty quickly and we arranged to meet up the next day - quickest meeting I've ever agreed too.
As mentioned, this is a half catfish date. That means I know partially what he look like but not fully. So when i first saw him, I'm not even sure if that's him until he approached me. I can't say I'm shock about what he look like, but seeing him out of the photo of the Polaroid is fresh. Finally, he's not hiding behind someone. At least i get to see him in his true form.
Next, we went for our date. As we covered all the basic questions online, it felt like I had nothing else to ask him. It felt like I know him without knowing him at all. It was awkwardly silent between us. As we were taking the wrong bus to the wrong place - because that's what you get for dating me - he suddenly decided to speak. Of all the things he decided to say, he pointed at my mole on my shoulder and said, "cut this out." I'm sure he said it jokingly or out of the awkward tension but that's still a significantly weird thing to say. I responded with a odd laugh because how are you supposed to respond to that. Honestly, how?
Putting that aside, we arrived at our desired dating area after finally taking the correct bus - that's my bad 😂. We settled at a nearby cafe in a crowded shopping centre. Personally, I am very uncomfortable with silence during dates. After that "cut out your mole" episode, boy,was it silent. Therefore, a strategy I often used to battle that is, to walk around the mall or anywhere and point at random things as my conversation topic. Thus, after dining I suggested to walk around the mall. However, he destroyed my strategy. He insisted that we enjoy the atmosphere in the cafe instead. I guess that was it. My strategy was demolished . I'm stuck here in this awkwardly silence nightmare with nothing to say and do.*
"No!" I thought to myself. I can't be defeated. I tried to spark more conversations. I even talked about the weather. Do you know how cruddy a date is for me to be able to touch on the weather? I'm sure the waitress could even sense it all the way from across the cafe. Oh and if you're wondering the reaction to my weather comment, it was shut down.
*I know I can use my phone or something but he is not doing that and I don't want to be rude. Yes, he's just stoning or should I once again say enjoying the noisy mall atmosphere.
I finally gave in to the silent atmosphere and kept quiet as well. After what feels like forever, he decided it's finally the optimal time to leave the cafe.
At the end of the day, we both got the vibe that we're not suited for each other and part ways. I guess this date is not as horrid as you would imagine. It's leaned more towards weird and awkward. I'm sure someone out there can enjoy his quirks and appreciation to the atmosphere, it's just not me.
That is the end of Online Dating Story 1. Names have been excluded from the story because I don't remember the names or faces at this point. I want to know what do you think about dating stories on IreviewUread. Do you want me to write more dating stories or 1 is enough? What about you? What are your online dating stories? Do comment in the comment section below!
