The Inconsistency of the Dating World

Before continuing on, listen to this short story. (It’s only about 10 minutes long. It starts at about 1 min 50 seconds. Or read the transcript here)

When I first heard this story I thought it was a pretty interesting description of the dating world and how people are often looking for people who conflict with themselves. Note the first exchange our heroine has on her date:

He broke the silence. “Chrysanthemum is an unusual name.” “The Chrysanthemum is in the Asteraceae family and has been cultivated in Japan for over 2,000 years.” Brian coughed and looked down at the table, quiet once more.

Turn off the mouth, she thought, this is not how normal people talk.

She suffers because of how hard she finds it to relate to scientific types. But when she’s on the date with Albert:

He looked nervous. He was ridiculously overdressed for the casual neighborhood bistro they had chosen to meet at. He looked about as awkward and out of place as possible. Everything about him practically screamed, “I’ve never been on a date before!” Chrysanthemum wondered if his mom had tied his tie for him. Actually, she felt bad for him. The only one I feel worse for is me.

In a way she’s judging him for exactly the same issues she was hoping the men she was on blind dates with weren’t judging her. I’ve seen people do this over and over - to judge others on nearly the same thing they don’t want to be judged on. I guess it’s just human nature to be better able to see the inconsistencies in the logic of others than of your own.

• Escape-Pod
• Shane-Halbach
• Short-Story