The Relentlessness of “Meh” Dates

We read about great dates and we read about dating misadventures, but what about the medium dating experiences?

One might assume that a medium date simply involves two good people who are each a match for someone, just not each other. A non-story.

A friend of mine – one of many trapped in a revolving door of “meh” dates – says she is more discouraged by a medium date than a bad one. At least there’s a story in the bad date.

The story of the medium date is boring, like, “We drank one drink and exchanged some basic demographic information. Then we settled the bill and he politely walked me to the subway and said goodbye. I went down the stairs and didn’t look back.”

Indeed, a mere shrug of the shoulders is all the description these dates require.

And yet as these average dates have accumulated over the years, a story has emerged.

The story of the medium date is a story about medium men and the great single women trying to convince themselves that medium is maybe . . . good? Because it’s not bad? And maybe our standards are too high? And perhaps medium can seem great if we can just muster the right attitude?

My friends and I complain that the bar is low for men. Our foreheads fall into our hands at brunch as we admit that we slept with some mediocre dude because he was the first in a while with a job or degree or decent haircut.