Letter From The Editor

When we first had the idea to compile bad dating stories for an issue around Valentine’s Day, I was excited. Part of the reason I wanted to do it was because I thought it would be hilarious.

Some of the stories we included (see page 8) are certainly very funny. But in truth, it kind of bummed me out. The whole experience was a downer. Maybe it was hearing countless bad dating stories (in addition to the five we feature here, I talked to each of the individuals about additional experiences, and I spoke to at least a dozen more people trying to find the right ones). Maybe it was trolling Tinder looking for people to talk to me about their dating lives. Whatever the case, doing this story really reminded me how terrible dating can be. (Seriously, if I’m ever single again, I’m just buying a bunch of cats because I’ll refuse to date.)

The stories we share here, for the most part, do not have happy endings. But maybe that, in a twisted way, is a happy ending in itself. It’s like how when I’m feeling especially cynical, a friend of mine likes to tell me something along the lines of this: “If you try to keep the bad stuff out, then you end up keeping the good stuff out, too.”

So, here’s to the bad stuff. And to the unexpected stuff. After I met with one of my Tinder interviews, we’d gotten along well enough for me to invite him to stay and hang out with my friends who were on their way to meet me. He stayed. And he spent most of the rest of the night talking to one of my friends. Now I’m not saying it’s anything it’s not, but for a brief moment that night, in my mind at least, it seemed like the thought of just maybe this could be something was there. And in the end, I think that’s all anybody can ask for — the possibility of that maybe.