Member-only story
Don’t Date Men With Verbs for Names
This Valentine’s Day, I’m looking at Mark, Rob, Peter, Matt, Don, Bill, Wade, Pat, Chuck, Crane, and Will and saying — don’t do it.
Once I dated a Drew, and no, it wasn’t short for Andrew; it was just Drew. True to his name, he was a creative type, a designer. A few years younger than me, he was an adoring delight and I probably broke his heart because he just wasn’t right for me. We’re still pals, and he’s now married with two adorable kids. No regrets there.
That’s a rare win for the verbs.
Most of the verbs? They’re not good men to date.
I’ve dated a Mark or two. Ironically, they were a flighty bunch who never stuck around to be indelible.
And don’t get me started on Matts. Sure, the verb has a different spelling. Matte: to finish with a dull or lustrous surface. Mat: to become entangled, form tangled masses. A Matt broke my heart when I was in my early 20s. I can’t recall much about our short-lived romance, not even his last name. I know we met when I lived in Atlanta, and I took him with me on a weekend road trip to Nashville, where I’d gone to grad school. It was a fun trip, until he dumped me — just before the four-hour ride back. And I was driving! Oh, how I wish 50-something Dana could…