Dating...ugh

Remind me in two weeks. I can make him reappear!

 

This is bizarre, because it's like an opportunity to go back 17 years in time and give myself advice. I could have written that post at your age. I know things I'd have done differently, but not any one thing I could have known at 23 that would have been the answer.

If you want the unvarnished truth, my first piece of advice is to get the fuck out of sportswriting. At 23, writing in a small town, there's going to be nowhere to go by the time you're ready to go there. Get a teaching certificate, learn a trade, something that can never go away. The only newspapers that are going to survive the next decade are right there in Podunk (where I assume you don't want to stay), and the few exceptions are going to be staffed by people way ahead of you in line. The only other way to stay in is to be at the forefront of "new media" reporting, and I don't know how you do that from a town of 10,000 people. If that's your dream, find the best position to make it happen, but take a cold, hard, realistic look at the landscape while you still have a lot of time and options.

Yeah, I realize that's profoundly cynical, but if I were in the same position I'd wish someone would tell me the same thing. The odds of going on to make a decent living in newspapers from where you are right now were daunting even in the best of times; now it is all but impossible.

As for women, it's all about exposing yourself (but not literally) to as many people as possible. If she's out there, the more women you meet, the better you chances of finding her. Date a lot of people, have relationships. Don't limit yourself to the "if this isn't someone I can be with, I won't bother" mentality. The more you date, the more you figure out what you want and don't want. The more you learn how to make a woman happy. The more likely you are to run across the person who is right. And the more ready you'll be when she does show up.

If you've never had a "serious relationship," as you say, then you'd have no idea what to do if you met the right person tomorrow. You couldn't handle a job at the NYT if they offered it to you tomorrow -- you need to build experience to be ready for it. Why wouldn't dating be different? And unlike newspapers, preparing for the right relationship is an investment that will always serve you well.

This ends today's "Ask A Cranky Old Man" segment.

 

pffft, I'd like to reinforce one of AB's points, from a woman's point of view. Not having had any serious relationships by age 23 doesn't mean much. But you'll reach an age where it will become a red flag: "Maybe he's a player. Maybe he's gay, and in deep denial. Maybe he's ... etc., etc."

Have a few relationships that last a little while and are fun rather than serious. As long as you're honest with the women, it's all good.

 

If you're 23, can we introduce you to Sportschick?

 

I have moved on from 23-year-olds, dammit! I'm up to 26-year-olds

 

hey sportschick...sup?

 

Her age minimum...

 

I don't date people from SportsJournalists.com either!

 

http://www.entertonement.com/clips/bdhxnqttjj--The-Price-is-Right-Losing-HornsRingtones-The-Price-is-Right-Sad-Yes-

 

*whistles by*

 

We never dated, dammit!

 

How I wish I had had your standards.