The Problem with Dating Unemployed, Local, West Coasters

Now. I thought I had found the jackpot of online dating:

1) From Washington State. Which probably means he's at least half hippie. Probably values the outdoors, and probably nice and arty. Also has a 97% chance of loving Dan Savage (which he did). Cheers, Dan!


2) Said boy is now living very locally to me. Now this could potentially be an issue if things didn't work out. Especially because of one New York City rule. Despite the 1.6 million people living on the island of Manhattan alone, you are almost guaranteed to run into the one person you are trying to avoid. Repeatedly. These odds are even higher, if the said person you're hiding from lives a whopping three blocks away. HOWEVER, if things do manage to work out for a bit, then you can have dates in the neighborhood, no one is traveling too far, and a lot less planning is involved. You can be lazy about it like a pair of sprawling puppies.


3) He is unemployed. Another borderline plus. However, he volunteered at a highly esteemed art museum. So he wasn't wasting away his time. And, was rather available. He did manage to live in Manhattan, and seemed to support himself. Perhaps he had a high-paying job in the past? Independently wealthy? Perhaps he ran some sort of gambling den out of his apartment? Irrelevant. He had time to spare, yet also managed to give back to the community through volunteering. Awesome.


How could it go wrong, you ask? He was into me and ALL THESE THINGS! The potential for true love was never stronger. Allow me to explain. When you are not cohabiting with your parents, while living in Manhattan, and not earning a cent, your money runs out. A minor detail that I'd managed to overlook. When your money runs out, and you are living on the opposite coast from your family and relatives, chances are you will have to pack up your things and move back home. When you've been dating a girl for only ... three-ish dates? There are not a lot of options in terms of a future. And so, you break things off to sort out your life.

And that's where things went awry.

Which makes me almost (but not quite) as sad as this kid: