Dating Season

As those of you who follow the Gregorian calendar may have heard, today was the first day of autumn. Within a few weeks, the weather will get a little chillier, the leaves will start to change colors and, next thing you know, you'll be opening up a box on Christmas morning, holding up a garish green sweater while masking your disappointment and saying something like, "Wow, this really looks cozy!"

Here's an interesting fact, though: Did you know that 77% of all long-term relationships begin during the spring and summer months?

You see, as with deer or elk hunting, dating has a "season," one with a definitive starting date and a definitive ending date. From the morning of February 15th through the wee drunken hours of Halloween night, it's dating season. That's not to say that it's impossible to meet and/or date someone during the offseason. It's simply made much more difficult by the cold weather, which causes many women to avoid leaving their homes entirely, and the gauntlet of awkward winter holidays, which seem designed to test the limits of even the strongest relationships.

For instance, let's say you meet a nice girl on November 4th. Good for you. But what happens on Thanksgiving? Do you spend it with one another? Does she invite you to her family's place? Or do you invite her to yours? It's a terrifying proposition.

What if you begin dating a girl in early February? What do you get her for Valentine's Day? Do you splurge on an expensive dinner? Do you buy her a gift? How do you decide what to get that would be nice and thoughtful, but not too nice and definitely not more thoughtful that whatever she'd get you?

And let's not forget about Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Instinctively, most people in this day and age recognize the sheer amount of mental calorie-burning that is usually necessary when beginning a relationship during the offseason and, thus, avoid the possibility entirely. So, for those of you who are genuinely looking to date a broad and haven't capitalized on the spring and summer months, get to work. In a little over a month, things are gonna get much more difficult.

Stay tuned… Tomorrow, we'll have an insightful interview with a real-live girl.