The Wall Street Journal has, yet again, dipped its surprisingly-aware toes into the perplexing pool of post-dating romance.  BRA-VO, we here at WTF?! say!  A little late is infinitely better than never – especially compared to the newspaper’s rivals, who are clinging to the traditional concept of “The Date” as if it’s actually going to help them sell some papers (guys, a hint: nothing is going to help you sell papers these days. have you met the internet?).

This isn’t the first time that the Wall Street Journal has recognized and admitted to the ambiguity surrounding modern romance.  Remember when Jess was interviewed for their February 26th article on the new path that our generation is taking to reach the coveted land of marriage and commitment? Yet today’s step forward feels even bigger.  Why?  Because they are finally attempting what we here at WTF?! have been doing all along.  They are discussing specific, measurable ways (there’s a chart in there!) to find love in the post-dating world.  They are pulling the curtain back on one small slice of the ambiguity.  Read the Wall Street Journal’s discovery of the Group-Non-Date HERE:

The Dating Game Takes to the Field

As active participants in several urban sports leagues, we are no strangers to the romantic possibilities of joining a soccer, bowling, kickball, football or wiffle ball league (ask us about that one this fall).  Group-Non-Dates were one of the first new paths to love that both of us recognized when we set out to navigate and define the post-dating world.  So in homage to today’s Wall Street Journal article, and as a reminder to those of you wondering how membership in these sports leagues often plays out, we’d like to flashback to our description of the Group-Non-Date – sports included.  Enjoy!

Non-Date Snapshot #2! The Group-Non-Date

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oLR5AW70zU

You’ve recently joined a local soccer team that plays (and then drinks) on Sunday afternoons. On this particular Sunday, after finally winning your first soccer game, your team heads over to the closest dive bar to celebrate the big W.

You partner up with Josh, a cute junior architect on your team, for a rousing game of beer pong (two overtimes!). After losing to a couple members of the green team, you and Josh continue to talk and drink and sing along to the Journey songs blasting from the jukebox. And when your teammates continue on to the burrito joint around the block, you and Josh consult with each other and decide to tag along. You then stick together throughout the meal, sitting at the same end of the table and bonding over your love of fresh guacamole and the Dallas Cowboys.

The team then parts ways, and you and Josh head off in different directions as he casually drops, “See you next Sunday!” You’re excited about your flirty chemistry, but also confused about your next move. He had definitely seemed interested in you, but he had also made it sound like you wouldn’t be seeing each other until the following Sunday. What did the entire afternoon mean? Was he just not that into you? And even if he was, where could a bunch of drunken group outings lead?

—–

So based on Josh’s actions, is he truly interested in you? Or is he just not that into you? In the absence of clear signals, let’s try to guess what he was thinking!

Maybe he likes you and just doesn’t want to move too fast.
Or maybe he thinks that you’re cool but isn’t attracted to you.
Or maybe he likes you but isn’t sure if you like him and doesn’t want to put himself out there.
Or maybe he’s interested in you but is more interested in another girl and is waiting to see how that turns out.
Or maybe he’s playing by the Swingers rules and is planning to reach out in three days.
Or maybe he was just really drunk.

Endless possibilities and countless interpretations of a few hours on a Sunday afternoon. Sound familiar?

Aug 18, 2010

1 F-YEAH! F-YEAH!

wtf do you think?