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2003-12-17 - 9:11 p.m. This is a paper I wrote for my psych class. I thought it should be posted in here too. :) Single in the City: The Endless Quest for Mr. Right “Men should be like Kleenex; soft, strong and disposable.” The quote of my life, except that I didn’t say it, Cher did. Boy, she really hit the nail on the head with that one. Too bad all the men I’ve met are more like sandpaper; rough, gritty, and can easily make you bleed if you push too hard. Being single is college, for the most part, is wonderful. You can stay out all night, give your number out to random guys, and then make bets with your girlfriends on how many will actually call. Ninety-nine percent of the guys probably don’t remember they got your number, and if they do, they don’t remember the name that goes with it. Ah, the college dating scene. Girls dressed up in their little mini skirts and tank tops, no matter if it’s 20 below outside, and the guys, following them around like a pack of hungry wolves. Me, I’m one of the girls sitting at the bar, laughing at the blonde who walked in, half clothed, commenting on how old it is outside. No shit, Sherlock! It is the middle of December! This is how it is every weekend of every month here in this fantastic college town. Maybe that’s why I reserve my “campus bar” outings for nights when I’m in a particularly foul mood. It always lightens things up. But then you look across the bar, towards a dark corner, and you see them. The dreaded cute couple, not saying much, just holding hands and enjoying each other’s company, seemingly unaffected by the hunt and chase that is going on around them. You can’t help but hate them. Not the couple personally, just horribly jealous of their blissful situation. It seems that lately there are more of them too. Where are they coming from and how come I can’t find any guy who wants to be that way? Take Ted* for example. (*Yes, that is his real name. I’m not protecting the guilty.) He’s a guy I met when I was in Boston on an internship. We “dated” for almost 2 months, which basically meant that we spent nearly every night together, but we weren’t going to get serious because I was leaving soon. On the other hand, there were talks about how much he liked me, how he wanted to come visit, and how he couldn’t wait until I would be back for Christmas. Then there were the random “just because” presents, the “I miss you” cards and endless emails. But as soon as I was back home, things did a complete 180, and I was accused of being the “overemotional” one about things. A few nights ago, 1 week before I am scheduled to return, he calls and says he’s been seeing someone for the past month. Uh…. Ok. This is a typical situation for me lately, but the thing is, it’s not just me. My closest friends are dealing with the same crap too. There’s Patti, whose man wants to be with her only when it’s convenient for him, Julie, who can’t take her guy anywhere without him pointing out each and every girl he’s slept with, and Jenn, whose guy is so insanely jealous, she gets interrogated when a telemarketer calls! Honestly!
I can’t help but wonder if I’ll ever be the cute couple in the bar, or if I’m destined to live alone, with my 300 cats. Not like that would be such a bad thing, I’m on my way with one, overfed orange cat, who wakes me up at 4am just because he feels like it. See, but I’m young, and I still have the optimism of most girls my age. There are so many guys out there and so little time to meet them all. Fortunately, I’m up for the challenge.
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