Wyoming is a place that still holds fast against the encroachment of the modern world. Beyond their cityscapes, it seems the people take on a resistance in the shadow of the Great Tetons and buttressed by the wild and mighty Snake River to anything that might disturb their peace and tranquility. I think that’s why it impressed me so much. I felt at home there. The things that I feel are important are still important in Wyoming, and I didn’t feel alone despite being separated by miles of prairie or yards of rock and timber from the nearest living soul.
Despite my expressed desire to be left in peace, I do not want to live entirely alone. Grudgingly, I have returned to the dating meat market and found it much more difficult than it used to be, for many reasons. I live in a section of the Vegas valley populated largely by Legacy families, who have lived here for generations. The kids all attended the same schools, and the parents even grew up together, and I constitute one of the unwashed outsiders. Plus, I work 23 miles from my domicile, as opposed to the majority of my neighborhood peers, further isolating me in terms of associations. I face geographical and familial barriers when I go up against others my age on the hunt for companionship.
My other major hurdle is my own policy of Friendship First. First off, it gives competitors myriad opportunity of unknown duration to beat me to the punch and garner favor with the would-be targets of my affectations. Secondly, I run the risk that the girls I like will find someone to whom they are attracted whom they will seek to get to know rather than letting me grow on them. Either way, time is not on my side in a society that still encourages marriage to the “wife of youth”.
Basically, the prevailing mindset of friendship first seems lost in the heat of an emotional moment. Having been there myself, I cannot fault my peers, and I still maintain that friendship first is the best policy. Whatever happened to courting? As I’ve mentioned before, men primarily focus on “sealing the deal” and moving into a committed and exclusive relationship (even if they’re carrying on such relationships with several different women concurrently), and so a single date seems tantamount to a betrothal.
I simply cannot compete with certain categories of men. While I try to build a relationship of trust, if they manage to skip to the chase, all my efforts are wasted. Time to rethink my plan? No. Back when I went on my mission, there went about the saying that “your girlfriend won’t wait, but your wife will.” I have every confidence that I will find the person I need in time, however flawed my system may seem in the moment.
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