The Rebounder. Catching lots of rebounds in basketball is a great thing. In life, however, it's another story - rebounders can really get you hurt. A rebounder is a person who is looking for a light relationship after a difficult break up, but doesn't necessarily know it. They get attached quickly, intensify the relationship, then realize that a) they're single now and want to date around, or b) you're not really what they want. And you're left out in the cold wondering what happened.
Sometimes, dating feels a bit like playing a child's board game. With every roll of the dice, you take a chance on a new relationship or a new person - and get a chance to create a future with somebody. Unfortunately, though, when those dice roll across the board, they almost never take you to that "happily ever after" square at the end of the game - heck, you're lucky if you roll doubles and get an extra turn every once in awhile.
Dating can be pretty darned funny - in fact, there are whole sitcoms dedicated to all the stupid choices we make in romance. One person's romantic regrets become another's hilarious half hour. But even while we're laughing, most of us recognize (and fear) the bad decisions that we see others make in fiction and in life. Because all of us have made some terrible decisions of our own - decisions that we will always regret.
When you're single, meeting people can be incredibly frustrating. It's just so hard to meet the kind of people that interest you. Going to the bar seems pointless and clichéd. Your friends have already tried to hook you up with all their "you're going to love this guy" or "this girl is totally hot" friends. And speed dating seems like a silly waste of time.
Some women only go after that strutting, slick-haired man, oozing over with confidence and masculinity. Fortunately for the many women who fawn over him, this kind of man makes the whole "I'm interested" thing easy. Want to get him to talk to you? All it takes is a glance and a smile.
Sometimes romantic relationships are clear as glass. You see each other, feel a mutual interest, go on a date, and sit back as things take off from there. There's never much ambiguity about what your romantic intentions are for each other. And while that easy clarity is always nice, unfortunately you don't always get it. Especially when you develop romantic feeling for a friend, a friend of a friend, or a long-time acquaintance, it can be difficult to tell when the relationship shifts.
You go out on a few dates, and each one is better than the last. You talk together, laugh together, share some mutual interests, and seem to share a mutual attraction. The relationship is beginning to take off, it seems, and you're just starting to feel that little spark of excitement in your belly: this one might just work out.
Deep down, we all know that dating somebody who is already married is a bad, horrible, idiotic idea. But we do it anyway! And when we're in the throes of a new relationship - especially a deliciously illicit one - it can be difficult to remember why it's such a bad idea. You're just having a bit of fun, after all. Right?
The deeply passionate couple that chooses to be together against the wishes of everyone around them. The man who leaves everything in his life in order to chase after the love of a woman who has captured his heart. The passion, the intensity…the happily ever after, "love conquers all" ending. Nice, right?
When I'm talking about this subject, I always feel like I'm treading over dangerous ground. Because I'm a girl who does like nice guys...and I know that other women want men to treat them decently, too. But here's something else that I think is true for most women: while we say that we want a nice guy to treat us like a princess and buy us flowers and worship us...we're kind of, well...lying. And most of us don't even realize it.
