Dating

I went to dinner last night with three girls from my photography class.

As we were doing the “Get to Know You Outside of Class” thing, it emerged that one of the girls works in the computer department of a major pharmaceutical company, one girl is a mechanical engineer, and one girl is a realtor with a science background who is going back to school for Genetic Counseling. Weird.

Equally weird was the portion of the dinner, after much wine was consumed, during which we discussed boys. Turns out, bizarrely, that I was the only one at dinner who has a significant other!

What are the odds? I suppose it is not odd that ¾ of awesome women in NYC are single, considering how difficult it is to meet people here. It’s bizarre because I was the ¼ who has a boyfriend. I’m so used to being the only single one! I’ve spent so much of my life single or in relationships that allowed me to behave, for all intents and purposes, like a single person.

Weird.

I didn’t know how to handle it. I was actually jealous of their singleness for many reasons. I listed, without humoring anyone, the many virtues of being single in the city. There are so many. I said “You can do whatever you want! You can go wherever you want! You get to be selfish! You don’t have to consider anyone but yourself!”

Of course there are millions of awesome things about dating as well, but we didn’t talk about those.

I did, however, say stupid things like “It will happen for you. I have the worst dating history of anyone I know – I suck at it – I hate it – I loved being single – I never thought I’d meet someone who wasn’t a complete ass and without even trying I met someone who rocks.”

How did this happen?

I offered to set people up. I said “I know some boys, but please don’t think I am recommending that you date. Dating is the worst thing ever.”

Things have changed so much in the last year.

I think I might be a grown-up.

This is more than a year anniversary with a boy. This is a year anniversary of being a more functional human being, and for that I am proud of myself, and for that I will celebrate.