So you juststarted dating, or you’re about to post a profile for the second or umpteenth time.
You haven’t yetmet your soul mateyet, but you still think dating is fun.Sometimes,that is.
At other times the venture seems so mind-boggling you want to hang up your dating pumps for good.
A few might be keepers, I thought; others (manyothers!)
were clearly just plain wrong for me.
Along the way, I started compiling the pros and cons of dating.
ConSo can your date.
ProDating lets you wear clothes a tad spiffier than those sweat pants you do the laundry in.
ConYou achieve something concrete by staying home to do the laundry.
And your clothes stay cleaner when you’re not out spilling cheap table wine on them.
ProYou can make yourmarried friendsjealous.
ConInciting that jealousy may require some creative lying about your dates.
ProYou will have a hand to hold on walks and during the scary parts of movies.
And what if your date is neither a walker, a moviegoer nor a hand-holder?
That second scenario is fine; most new movies aren’t worth seeing, even with the discount.
ProYou have someone new to invite to family gatherings.
ConYour relativeshave someone new to criticize.
ProYour grown children will stop bugging you to “get out there and find someone.”
ConYourgrown childrenwill start bugging you about something else most likely something that involves your faulty parenting from ages ago.
ProYou’ll have someone other than your buddies to laugh with late at night.
ConA late night can be hellish when your date has no sense of humor.
ProYou confirm your attractiveness to the opposite sex.
ConYou confirm your suspicions of the opposite sex.
ProDating beats staying home.
ProYou get to experience new places, activities and foods you never would have discovered on your own.
ConThere is no con to this!
ProYou learn what you like in other people and what you might like to change in yourself.
ConObserving how strangers respond to you might be, uh, eye-opening.
ProIf you find that “special someone,” you’ll never have to date again.
ConNew life partners come with baggage but that’s a story for another time!
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