Pre-dating Hoopla

·      Dating limbo

·      Dating purgatory

·      Pre-dating

·      Talking

Listed above is a combination of words that all stand for the same thing, and that’s the new bullshit first phase of “dating”.  It’s where you’re basically dating, but you’re not ready for a label. Everything is probably still on the hush-hush, and it’s what you go through before you decide whether this person is worth dating or not. It’s like we’re signing up for our free trials with a person, and when it’s time to finally pay up - we cancel.

How long are we expected to go through the pre-dating screening process? Is it a couple of weeks, a month, a few months? This whole pre-dating hoopla is mental torture.  This phase makes me constantly wonder. I wonder if I’m doing something wrong? I wonder if I can text him first? Can I invite him to hang out? What are the expectations? Do we even have expectations? The inconsistency of this generation is…unfair, to say the least.

      Of course I like the guy, but when is it appropriate to say so? There is that constant fear of running them off. You don’t want to come off as “clingy.” But how much time is too much time in dating purgatory?  After a certain amount you start to ask yourself, “are they just stringing me along?” And when is the hard hitting answer to that – ‘yes’?