You’re on the way back from a great first date—two (or four…) martinis deep, feeling no pain—and FaceTiming your friends with a full recap. “We just got each other,” you say with a smirk. That night, you go to bed feeling invincible; there’s no doubt in your mind he’ll send the, “I had a great time last night” text in the morning, followed by a “When can I see you again?”. That is, until the sun goes down the next day and you still haven’t heard from him. Panic sets in. He’s probably just busy with work. He’ll check in at 5, you tell yourself. And by 6 p.m., you’ve officially entered the dark place: you’ve just been ghosted.
Indeed, ghosting seems to be the price you pay for admission into the dating world these days. Yet, if you look beyond its surface definition—which entails one person abruptly ending the relationship, leaving the other person dumbfounded—it’s hard to see why there’s such a universal disconnect. Why is it that so many singles are feeling deceived and bamboozled after (what they thought) was a great first date?
The short, predictable answer is that dating apps have changed the way we interact forever. BUT, thanks to a not-so-new trend, there’s a new way of dating that might be able to get everyone on the same page: Dawn dating.