crush

There are a lot of expectations for men and women when it comes to love. Men are meant to chase and women are supposed to sit and wait for their prince charming to rescue them or whatever. Sorry, I can't take this seriously because it just sounds so old-fashioned and boring. How can a woman ensure that the guy she likes knows that she likes him? Reverse psychology? Reverse reverse psychology? It just seems like a big waste of time to wait for a guy to make the move every time.

One woman took to Reddit to vent about how displeased she is with this system and how she doesn't believe it benefits either gender.

Ever been in a healthy relationship? Personally... It's hard to say. Sometimes you get into it and you think, "Wow, this is great!" Then after-the-fact you realize, "Hold up, literally every aspect of our relationship was filled with red flags." Sound familiar? I guess it goes both ways though. Maybe it's also hard to recognize all of the healthy signs too in the moment. Luckily We're Not Really Strangers made a thread on Twitter outlining 11 signs of what they consider to be a healthy relationship. Any of these relatable to you? 

Everyone has had a crush on a teacher or professor at one point. It's inevitable. However, have you ever really thought about whether the teacher can tell, and if they can... how do they deal with it? Are they flattered and play along with it? Or do they try to straight-up ignore it?

I suppose it depends on the age of the student, and how extreme the crush is. It's not the kind of thing a teacher would want to get out of hand. Still, I bet there are some wholesome and hilarious stories out there.

Ah, excuses excuses. What a waste of my damn time. They're so predictable too. Of course, we have all given out a fair deal of them in the past. It is hard to straight-up tell someone to their face, "I don't like you that much." But it's just funny how guys always say that girls are the ones who can never be upfront about their feelings, and then they pull sh*t like this. It's even funnier when they say one of these preemptively. Like he hits you with one of these the first time you start hanging out, assuming that you already want him to be your boyfriend. Like actually, I just came to get d***ked down, but thanks for the warning... lol.

I'm not entirely sure if it would feel better to be dumped for a really good reason, like cheating, or for a super dumb reason, like eating a tuna salad. Either way, you're dumped. Knocked down from taken to single. It's never really going to be fun. But after some time you may be able to look back and think, "Lol I can't believe I was actually dumped for something so silly." It probably just meant y'all weren't meant to be.

A relationship is basically an experiment that you can't really prepare for beforehand. You have to take a lot of educated guesses in order to understand how to treat your partner right. And what your past partner enjoyed will not be the same as your current one. I guess I'm making it seem like it's a lot of hard work, but it kind of is... However when it's worth it, you don't look at it that way. If you want to It's fun to learn someone, especially when they keep you on your toes.

When you really think about your love life, there is probably a lot to make fun of. Think about the times you made a fool of yourself because you were so into someone. Or the times you didn't realize someone was flirting with you. It's all so human, and hilarious. There's are lot of things that people get better at the more they do it, but I'm not sure if dating is one of those things. That's might be what makes it such a thrill though.

Dating is really fun, most of the time. Okay, maybe only half of the time. Regardless, every successful relationship started with cringy dates, so they must work sometimes. However, for a lot of us, the never-ending small talk, combined with the weird mix of emotions, as well as the fact that neither of us knows each other well enough to fully make fun of the situation, can lead to some painful awkwardness. But the plus side is that they are almost always hilarious in retrospect... Just give it time!

Crushes are harmless, right? I mean, if someone is genuinely interested in pursuing things with someone would they still refer to them as their 'crush'? It was definitely a phrase that was passed around much more often in grade school. But I suppose adults still get crushes, and then the only difference is they can actually marry their crush, like even that day if they were feeling it.

It takes some serious guts to go up and approach a woman in public, but unfortunately, it doesn't always pan out. It may be that the club is too loud, she's might be hard of hearing, or maybe... you were just too dang awkward — which we are all guilty of being from time to time. It's natural, she's beautiful, you're nervous, you think you planned everything out, but y'all make eye contact, and BOOM! Nothing but nonsense begins to spew out your mouth. Sound a little too familiar? Well, if you made it in this list that means you definitely made an impression.

Whenever a girl is on a date she is very observant. She notices the way you talk to the waitress, the way you tucked in your shirt, and the way you talk about other girls. All of these things tell her a lot about you and allow her to make real informed decisions regarding the possibility of a second date. If the two of you part your ways after the first date and never speak again, there is always a reason, it may not be a significant one, but rest assured something happened that made her say, "This ain't it."

The concept of attraction is a weird one; you can't necessarily control what you're into, especially when it's not exactly... conventional. Whatever you're into, this is a safe space, and we (mostly) don't judge. You do you, boo. But attraction is like a switch; as quickly as someone can turn you on, they can do something that instantly turns you off. And once you get the ick, there's no going back. Redditers shared the things that instantly killed the crush they had on someone, and after reading these horror stories, it's pretty clear why. From seeing someone pick their nose to bumping into them at a family reunion (yikes!), there's no going back. The flame of passion has been extinguished forever.

Ah, pickup lines. Some people swear by them, others can't even pretend to entertain the people using them. Personally, they used to annoy me, but I think we can all agree that a little part of us misses the days when random strangers would come up to us in the bar and we could roll our eyes at the sound of, "Are you from Tennessee.... Because you're the only ten-I-see" or "Did it hurt... When you fell from Heaven?" E-pickup lines sent over dating apps just don't hit the same.

Breaking up can be hard. There are a lot of emotions flowing, uncomfortable conversations, and of course the inevitable decision of whether to keep in contact or say, "Have a good life buddy." Whatever the situation may be, a lot of good can often come out of break ups. The more ridiculous they are, the better the stories someone has to share with their friends OR perhaps with Twitter.

The choice to begin a relationship is a biggie. So often we tell ourselves to not over-think that decision, to ~follow our hearts~, but sometimes our heart is just confused AF and then we have to effectively undo our spontaneous decisions. Seems harsh, but maybe it's still better than knowing you're not into it and stringing the other person along for months, maybe years? Decide for yourself.

Ah, Valentine's Day. You can smell the romance in the air. Or wait *sniff sniff* I think that's just pollution. Silly me. But for real whatever your relationship status, this Valentine's Day is going to be weird regardless. But one thing that will never change is the ability of Tumblr users to post the silliest, wittiest Valentine's day card meme. Now, let's laugh our way through this day, shall we? Because these are actually funny af.