Rapid Fire
I tend to get cranky about bloggers who 1. post too often to keep up with, and 2. write really long unwieldy posts. Today I guess I dislike myself.
Anyway, I found out last night that a coworker of mine from a long time ago has entered a new career as a professional dating coach. Yeah, you read that right. I think she even spells it with capital letters. Professional Dating Coach. And with a "TM" presumably. I don't know.
I'm not pointing this out because I think there's anything wrong with being a Professional Dating Coach(TM). Actually, I think the idea is pretty cool. People should be perfectly capable of maintaining a physical workout routine without an athletic trainer, for example, but for some reason they just . . . don't.
Same goes for dating. You go through a bad relationship or two or twelve, and you give it some serious thought, and you figure it all out, and you have your whole plan for how "Next time, I'm going to keep my head straight, and [your tactics here]," but the next time you do meet someone pretty cool, the evil dating demon of doom suddenly takes possession of your personality and turns you into a wobbly, wonky fool. Having someone around to be sort of bull-headed about making sure you just leave things well enough alone after that second voicemail message — that kind of thing — it might not be so bad.
What is frightening about this is that this woman is one of the most emotionally unstable and volatile individuals I've ever met. She had the temper of a hornet's nest, and spent inordinate amounts of her time recalculating who was on her Like and Dislike lists at any given moment. I don't say that to be mean — I mean, she just was.
So I had to wonder, just in case, who knows, right? Maybe understanding that . . . challenging . . . kind of mindset would be helpful in a profession like Professional Dating Coach(TM). Could be. And I'll just leave that statement right there and move along.
Anyway, the woman in question is using a pseudonym, which at first struck me as kind of weird, but after some thought, I realized that's a strategy which actually makes good sense. Here, let's do a little exercise for a minute:
1. First, imagine yourself as a dating coach. You are the designated expert on how to meet people, act in relationships, develop a dating situation into something that works long term, how to end false-path situations efficiently and without hurting anyone.
2. Now, one at a time, think of all the people you've dated. We're not only talking long-term stuff here — anyone at all. One date, two weeks, whatever. Now imagining a best friend breaking the news to him or her that you — YOU — are now a Professional Dating Coach (TM).
Those people would pounce like wolverines from the underbrush. I'm a pretty decent guy overall, in the way I've treated people, but I'd still never hear the end of it. Man. And for someone who lept into a fiery fury at the slightest provocation. . . . Wow.
Anyway, I found out last night that a coworker of mine from a long time ago has entered a new career as a professional dating coach. Yeah, you read that right. I think she even spells it with capital letters. Professional Dating Coach. And with a "TM" presumably. I don't know.
I'm not pointing this out because I think there's anything wrong with being a Professional Dating Coach(TM). Actually, I think the idea is pretty cool. People should be perfectly capable of maintaining a physical workout routine without an athletic trainer, for example, but for some reason they just . . . don't.
Same goes for dating. You go through a bad relationship or two or twelve, and you give it some serious thought, and you figure it all out, and you have your whole plan for how "Next time, I'm going to keep my head straight, and [your tactics here]," but the next time you do meet someone pretty cool, the evil dating demon of doom suddenly takes possession of your personality and turns you into a wobbly, wonky fool. Having someone around to be sort of bull-headed about making sure you just leave things well enough alone after that second voicemail message — that kind of thing — it might not be so bad.
What is frightening about this is that this woman is one of the most emotionally unstable and volatile individuals I've ever met. She had the temper of a hornet's nest, and spent inordinate amounts of her time recalculating who was on her Like and Dislike lists at any given moment. I don't say that to be mean — I mean, she just was.
So I had to wonder, just in case, who knows, right? Maybe understanding that . . . challenging . . . kind of mindset would be helpful in a profession like Professional Dating Coach(TM). Could be. And I'll just leave that statement right there and move along.
Anyway, the woman in question is using a pseudonym, which at first struck me as kind of weird, but after some thought, I realized that's a strategy which actually makes good sense. Here, let's do a little exercise for a minute:
1. First, imagine yourself as a dating coach. You are the designated expert on how to meet people, act in relationships, develop a dating situation into something that works long term, how to end false-path situations efficiently and without hurting anyone.
2. Now, one at a time, think of all the people you've dated. We're not only talking long-term stuff here — anyone at all. One date, two weeks, whatever. Now imagining a best friend breaking the news to him or her that you — YOU — are now a Professional Dating Coach (TM).
Those people would pounce like wolverines from the underbrush. I'm a pretty decent guy overall, in the way I've treated people, but I'd still never hear the end of it. Man. And for someone who lept into a fiery fury at the slightest provocation. . . . Wow.