Glitz Guide: Dating During Quarantine

A week before the COVID-19 scare really took hold of NYC I had my first date with Harry*. We met on Le Bumble (my fancy way of saying the dating app Bumble...this works better in person and people think it's a fancy French wine bar) and talked for a week before meeting up. We instantly clicked, had great conversation, a hot make-out, and made tentative plans to get together the following week.

And then NYC issued a quarantine.


Harry is from the Westchester area and upon going home for what was supposed to be a quick trip over the weekend decided to stay indefinitely until our non-mandated "shelter in place" was lifted. So, safe to say it will be at least another 2 months until I'm able to see Harry again.

With today's technology it's not that hard to stay in contact with someone but it doesn't beat going to a nice bar and having a drink while you get to know someone new. My biggest dilemma? Harry doesn't like FaceTiming. I know. Who is he, Edward Snowden? Under normal circumstances I don't FaceTime much, usually just my mom or MomMom so she can read my cards (VERY important) but I feel like in this circumstance it would be nice...since, ya know, we can't even leave our apartments! Alas, I will have to settle for texting and the occasional Snapchat.

But you know what's hard? Trying to come up with things to talk to someone about that you are still trying to get to know. How many times can I ask how his day has been without it getting annoying? And what questions push it too far? I don't want to uncover all his deepest, darkest secrets after one date, but I also want to try and continue to grow the relationship. We played 20 questions in Quarantine Week 3 which was fun, but then I felt like I found out some things that I wanted to push further on, but is that too much? It's one thing to tell someone a personal matter behind a screen, but it's completely different to do so face-to-face. There are definitely some things I'm waiting to ask until real-life date two or three, but by then will it be too late? And if quarantine wasn't happening, who knows how many dates we would have been on by now. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME I THOUGHT I HAD GREAT KARMA!?

Right now, I'm just taking it day by day. Do we talk every day? No. Do I wish we did? It's complicated. As much as I need like attention, I don't see the point in going through the same how-are-you-doing cycle every day when I should be playing Stardew Valley working. I talk to my friends and family every day which has been enough, and I'm much more comfortable talking to them which I think is something I need to realize. Just because I like Harry doesn't mean we have to be on the same level I'm at with my best friends. I've met him once. He doesn't even know me. Doesn't know that I talk to my plants every morning, that I read every night before bed, or that my life blood is Diet Coke (I have bought an ungodly amount since quarantine began but that is a story for another post). But my good friends do know these things which is why I feel my attention should be focused on them instead of a boy I just met before I was lawfully-confined to my apartment. There will be time for him to get to know me better later.

Omg, is this an epiphany for me? Am I finally realizing that I don't need a man to be happy? DOUBT IT, but I think I am realizing that right now, as I type away in what is the epicenter of this pandemic, is that there are more important things out there than trying to get a boyfriend. If after all this is over and Harry and I are still talking to each other and want to move forward? Amazing. But if not? At least I can say I didn't waste all my time pining over a boy! And that, my dear readers, is the most important lesson of all.

So Harry, if you're reading this (God I hope you're not), just know that I'm chilling. Hit me up if you want to talk, but if not, no worries. We're all going through our own shit and trying to navigate this super difficult time. Dating will resume after quarantine, and right now I think it's important we focus more on the things getting us through all this, not dreaming of what may be there after.


*name has been changed for privacy but also because I wish I was dating Harry Styles, like, so bad