Dating in academia

After long pauses and awkward moments, I had that dreaded moment about halfway through the evening where I wished I’d been at home watching television with my dog.

I didn’t land a full-time position until 18-months late. I simply could not put another kind, interesting, funny man through this horrible process.Urged by my local lady friends, I went on a movie and dinner date with a man who drives trucks for the garbage company.Nervous, I dressed up too much and felt out of place in the movie theater in hose, a dark skirt and sweater."It’s just so much easier," she told me over a latté, “I finally feel like I count for something.” Others I’ve interviewed have confessed that professors have a way of making them feel like “mere mortals” rather than peers.And many of these non-academics have more than one college degree, a vast life experience, and vivacious personalities.

We chatted about nothing special that night -- a nice thing for a woman who’d been out of circulation for some time, but I could not find much to hold on to.