More than one person has told me that courting season is upon us. Apparently it started somewhere around November and lasts until roughly March depending on Groundhog Day and, I assume, the economy.
I’m still fuzzy on the details, but from what these people have described, courting season is that winter phenomenon where all people decide they want to be in a relationship, or something like a relationship, because it’s cold and annoying to go out and just much easier to cozy up with someone you have on retainer.
“It’s also very nice to have someone around the holidays,” one female friend added.
I don’t deny the fact that it’s cold and that this makes it annoying to go out. I also always find it easier to have a sure-thing, cold-night cuddle. And no, there’s no denying the joy of romance around the holidays.
But are people who aren’t girls actually out there making this happen on account of the season? Unconscious or otherwise, do people up their game come winter’s chill so they have someone by February 14th?
If in fact this is happening by choice of both men and women then certain specific factors must be at play. People just don’t register the temp drop, decide it’s time to get someone and have them within a week right?!
- People are probably lowering their standards – Katie’s Aunt Con once said, “just go out and date someone, anyone…have fun with it!” There’s some validity to this. I often claim that if you want any old boyfriend you can get one. So if people are being more open minded on account of the “feels like” reading than it’s likely that matches will be made.
- People are probably going back to old standards – The most sure-fire way to score a hook up is to go straight to people you’ve already convinced once. If people are desperate – sorry – cold – then they’re probably shooting texts that read “yo…been ages…at that spot we used to love…where r u 2nite?” to which equally chilly people might be responding, “nothing…yet.”
- People are probably making this up to help them explain to themselves why some of their friends have all found relationships around the same season – It is often very hard for us to come to terms with the fact that some/many/most of our friends have had success in making other people date them. We say things like, “well they met at work so, you know, that was easy,” or “I’m not sure but she probably met him on Jdate,” as if to say – there is no way this person pursued all the traditional, no-judgement requiring methods that I am, of course, pursuing as they are most noble and true, and actually found a guy. And so in this vein we have gone so far as to blame it on a season. “She looks like shit in a puffy coat so she had to lock a guy down before it got cold and no one would give her the time of day.”
Hey – maybe it’s true. I often play the cynic because it helps me maintain control of the way I’ve decided the world exists, but maybe there are whole sets of people out there meeting on account of a mutual desire to stay in and, say, watch the entire Monty Python collection. If so, bravo. But if come April I hear that people are starting to date like crazy because of a mutual desire to lounge around the park on a plaid blanket I’m calling bull shit.
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I have to say that this phenomenon is absolutely true. There may not be an exact science to it, but the game (as I remember it, of course) is certainly easier around this time. I think it’s only a coincidence that it’s a weather thing…maybe more so to do with the Oscars (some majorly lame love stories), Valentine’s Day, and “couples time” (trip planning, wedding planning, etc). Girls just start to freak out and want all of it – now. I wonder, by the way, if the phenomenon exists in warm-weather places?
But from a guy’s perspective (change your “cuddle” to “f*ck” and “cozy up” to…well…”f*ck”), if you hit it at the right time, it can be an incredibly happy winter/fall. Be warned, though, peak too early and you’ll be caught in a valley, wishing you were on a hot streak like your friends.
I agree. This phenomenon exists. And it exists at several levels. First, I have notices that in the last month or two, suddenly all my friends are coupled up. I think the cold and the holidays are the main contributing factors. I also know 4 people in the last month who have become engaged.
lol. I’ve noticed this as well, except when I lived in Hawaii where it reaches a chilly 80°F 365 days a year.
Winter is a tough time for me when it comes to this feeling of lonliness, however I take this feeling with a grain of salt and gently traverse the season like a bull in a china shop. If one can make it season after season, they become a hardened veteran, able to withstand any temptation to call up an ex (and make a miserable mistake).