u/CN122

I went out this evening and ended up getting two numbers. So far neither have responded, which I know it's still early but in my experience if I don't hear back that day then 95% I don't hear back at all. I even got another number last week and she never texted me. So it's making me wonder, how often is it that people actually respond to someone they gave their number to? I know people give numbers to protect themselves from aggression or just are afraid to say no all the time and then ghost, but I'm finding it very frustrating that so many girls give me their number and don't respond. I know no one reading this is there, but I am a very respectful and intentional guy. The conversations we had in these three instances were really good and flowing well. One of the girls even had her friend with her who walked away to give us some space after she saw we were vibing... so I just don't get it.

I am fed up with dating... our generation has absolutely no social skills and is cooked. I feel like everyone I match with on dating apps, meet in person, etc. are all the same. It's like regardless of how great the connection is, people get cold feet, don't know what they want, or are just playing games. No one in our generation is consistent.

For example, there's this girl I met back in October that I asked out on a dating app. I had met her in person and later saw her on Hinge. We started talking and she eventually ghosted me after I asked her out. The next month I saw her in person again, and I didn't approach her but overheard her talking about me. She eventually approached me as I was leaving and said hi giving me a hug. I saw her again in December, and she was being really flirty and touchy with me. I was like ok so this girl is interested but why did she ghost me when I asked her out? I decided not to make a move given that she had just ghosted me a month and a half prior. I'd most likely be seeing her again next month anyways. I didn't see her in January or February so I end up adding her on insta and she DM'd me. We start talking and after a while I asked her out again. She didn't say no but she didn't say yes either. She kind of dodged the question. I ended up seeing her later that month at an event and asked her what was up. She said she's been waiting for me to ask her out in person which I thought was the dumbest logic but whatever. She gives me her number and we plan a date. The day before the date she cancels because "she didn't realize I wanted to date and isn't looking for anything right now". I ended up finding out a lot more about her from a friend that I'm not going to post on here but it's a whole mess of a situation that I walked away from.

Back in March, I went on a date with this girl who seemed really nice. We had a nice time and I could tell she was way more into me than I was into her. I was interested but wasn't sure if this would go anywhere. She was going to be out of town for 8 weeks so we've been texting since our first date. On our date, she talked about ghosting and told me that she hates it and if for whatever reason I lose interest, to just be upfront with her. I agreed and told her I hate it too. Well... guess who got ghosted. I went away a few weeks ago and she messaged me during my trip to see how it was going and I sent her some pics from it and we were going back and forth for a while. All of a sudden she just stopped responding and I followed up once I got back home and haven't heard back. It's been almost two weeks at this point...

Speaking of that trip, I noticed on it that the problems with out generation go beyond dating. We just lack social skills in general. Where I was had a TON of Gen Z workers at the restaurants and what not. They were all friendly and all but I noticed something interesting. There were three places I went where the workers were in their 50s-70s. I had some of the most memorable interactions from my trip with these people. They were so nice and had full blown conversations with me about life and things changing in the area that I was at. I used to have family there and was visiting after my family moved away from the area 10 years ago. I did some reflecting after the trip and realized that our generation doesn't know how to talk to people beyond surface level interactions. It's like we freeze up or just don't want to talk. I just feel like everyone has been so isolated that if they don't have a prior relationship with you (i.e. as friends and what not) they're not going to interact more than anything surface level. I'm not even talking about in terms of dating but just in general.

It's really sad because I feel like this is where the majority of our dating struggles stem from. Absolutely no one knows how to communicate and is so caught up in whatever they're into that they forgot about the real world and people around them. I've experienced this with friends, people I've dated, and passerby. I've told this to friends and family but there is going to be a point where things come to a head. We're not getting any younger and eventually people are going to realize that they've been wasting precious time on things that don't matter. How many hours they've spent gaming, on Instagram, on TikTok, or whatever they're involved in. Life is about the people we connect with, the people we interact with, and I'm afraid that our generation is going to realize that when it's too late.