Minding the Single Minded

Hello ladies, gentlemen and very conscious cheese.

I fully realize that the government is currently in power-save mode (I don't want to call it "shut down" because somehow politicians are still getting paid), and I realize that every other blogger in America is probably talking about it.

I am not going to give a long political rant. Why?

Because honestly if I wanted to write about selfish, pouting people, who have no regard for how their actions affect others and who could create more logical arguments by shaking up a Boggle game, then I would work with and write about toddlers.

Grow up politicians, share your toys and stop throwing things around indiscriminately, because they are hitting and hurting people.

If you need something to lift your spirits remember "Life is a Circus Run by a Platypus" is totally there for you!

I am about to admit something that is apparently very difficult for most people my age in our culture to admit. I am single. This is a fact that I am ok with.

Does this mean I never want to be in a relationship? No, if the right person came along then sure, why not?

Does it mean that I live in a quagmire of lonely depression because I have no one to call annoying pet-names? Absolutely not.

Please don't take this post as "I am complaining about being single." I actually am a content and functional human being single or in a relationship. Weird, I know.

However, when one is single there are some stock things that people in relationships tend to say, that are often annoying, hurtful and/or downright rude. These are all things that I have not only heard multiple times, but all of them I heard in the last month alone. What this post is about is things people should really not say to people who are single. 

1. "Your standards are/must be too high."

This statement would make sense if I had just spent an hour regaling you with a list of what I look for in a potential date that started with, "Well let's see, they have to be a billionaire, philanthropist, model, physicist, who owns the original set pieces of the Millennium Falcon and also happens to ride a tiger to work..."

I can guarantee that I have never uttered that phrase or any such list to be honest, so how can you assume that my "standards are too high?"

You want to know my standards? Ok, let me break some of the top things off of the "list" down for you:  

1. Not a psycho.
2. Has a sense of humor.
3. Likes Batman.
4. Has above a 10th grade reading level.
5. Understands basic hygiene.
6. Respects me and my tendency to read comic books while drinking pomegranate juice.

Tell me, are my standards too high? 

 
2. "You're just not looking hard enough."

I tend to view relationships less as a Sherlock Holmes mystery than the average person it seems. Exactly where should I be looking for the clues that are going to lead me to what you picture as relationship bliss?

The bar scene is full of creeps, I don't foresee dating anyone at work anytime soon and the time of the morning that I go to the gym is pretty much reserved for those in their 70's. 


3. "God has someone extra special out there for you."

Of all the "attempting to make the single person feel better" statements that people say, this one is like a Medieval gauntlet on a chalkboard to me.

What you said: "God has someone extra special out there for you."

What I hear: "It's going to take a miracle for you to find someone."

Thanks. Glad that an act of God is what you think it will take for me to find a date. Also, I really don't need any more "extra special" people in my life. I'm not taking enough medication to deal with the "special" people I'm already dealing with.


4. "You should put yourself out there more."

Where exactly is this "there" of which you speak.

You also should be a bit more specific about what you mean by "putting myself out there." What do you expect me to do, wear a dinosaur costume with the word "single" written on it? Do you expect me to run around with a sandwich board that reads, "Single, has a job, owns own vehicle, showers regularly, doesn't smoke and remembers to wear socks most days?"

This advice is as useless as an inflatable dart board.


5.  "You should try online dating, it worked really well for my uncle/acquaintance/person I read about."

Look, I'm glad that your second-cousin was able to find a date through that website that matches people based on their phobias, but that's not really my deal.

Why isn't it my deal? I had a friend who once set up a profile for me on a website because she was bound and determined to show me that it "really worked." All of my matches ended up looking like this:

The first five messages I got were from 40-something year old people looking to cheat on their spouses, the sixth was from a guy who said that he enjoyed watching women cook, naked, in the kitchen for him and the final one was from a guy who sent a message detailing the medications he was on.

My friend shut down the account she made for me and her own account that day.


6. "There are plenty of fish in the sea."

Fair, but, to stick with the cliche metaphor, the sea happens to have a lot of carnivorous anglerfish, poisonous puffer fish and other fishies that are about as cuddly as this:

7. "Your biological clock is ticking."

This is all:

8. "If you just...you'd have a date in no time."

Let me complete that sentence for you with things that people have actually said "... wore more makeup/wore less makeup/lost weight/wore heels/talked about less nerdy things/watched more episodes of "The Bachelor"/talked more/talked less/didn't have such strange hobbies/weren't so opinionated/had more of an opinion/weight-lifted less/didn't work out as hard when you went to the gym/didn't like Star Wars/went to <Insert Hipster Nonsense Name> Club/wore your hair down more..."

I'm sorry, you can't use my being single as an excuse to tell me something that you don't like about me. You want to provide constructive criticism? Fine, I'm all ears. But don't provide me with thinly veiled insults under the guise of trying to find me a potential date.

Also, I am not going to hide who I am just so I can ensnare some poor person, only for them to realize later on that I do wander around my apartment in Batman boxers singing Disney songs. I am who I am, and if I am going to give up my single status, it isn't going to be to someone who is infatuated with a fake version of me.

I know there are probably a billion more similar statements that could be added to this list. Do you have one that makes you want to stick your head in a microwave? Tell me about it.

As always feel free to follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads!