For years there have been articles written, TED Talks, and TikToks giving out dating advice, all advocating for "open communication," and how you shouldn't play games. Well, I'm here to disagree. Listen, I don't love games either but why is not liking someone who you've just met, and not wanting to text with them again, considered a game? It sounds like healthy boundaries and avoiding unnecessary confrontation that makes people feel worse, to me.

Dating has always been a little weird, even without the Coronavirus bubbling under the surface, but when you add in the fact that most of us are working from home, and stuck inside, we've been forced to only meet our future wedding plus ones on dating apps. And once you're on one for long enough (hi, me), you start to get into a rhythm.

You're familiar with the dating app pattern, the way it all works: You swipe left until you don't and then boom, you match. Which is always exciting even if the person you matched with you're not entirely crazy about, but you think, hey, why not try? Then you start messaging and you are vibing, so you decide to meet for a casual coffee/drink. Very low stakes. You go out and it's fine. Neither one of you want to escape out the backdoor, so you decide to see each other again.