Dating isn’t an easy thing to navigate these days, even for doctors, evidenced by one ER doc who is also a professor who was rejected by someone he had been on at least one date with because he’s “on good terms” with his former partners. Dr. Andrew Johnstone accidentally went viral after posting screenshots of a text message conversation with his date in which he demonstrates utter confusion over the fact that someone would end things with him just for not hating his exes.
“Love dating again,” he joked.
The text conversation starts out okay, with Johnstone’s date asking “are you friends with any of your exes?” This is not an entirely unreasonable question, though for some it immediately indicates a certain level of insecurity, suggesting that the person asking might be jealous if the answer is “yes.” This is often caused by past bad experiences and can be navigated if both partners put in the work, but in this case, it got worse.
“I’m on good terms with all of them, but not like friends in the sense that we chat regularly or hang out,” said Johnstone.
“That’s something I’m not cool with,” said his Sunday date.
This confused Johnstone, who had to clarify exactly what his date was “not cool with.” A brief back-and-forth confirmed that it was the fact that the doctor was on good terms with his exes at all, even if he doesn’t consider them to be friends, only really interacting with the one who lives nearby for dog sitting purposes.
“I’m not cool with any of it just my choice,” the date replied. “Take care.”
After both lamented that it didn’t work out, it was over.
Johnstone’s tweet blew up overnight as many related to the difficulties of dating in the modern era, including people who have weird hangups over perfectly innocent and pretty normal things like being on good terms with former partners. The extent of the virality of the post got to the point that he seems to feel a little uncomfortable about it.
Many commenters opined that Johnstone dodged a bullet, labeling the texts as a major red flag that indicates someone with a serious jealousy problem. Others wondered if the date was simply looking for an excuse to break things off.
Some, however, were sympathetic to this individual, noting that they had endured their own bad experiences with people who remained friends with their exes. And, of course, others shared their own saved text conversations with dates who ended things for weird reasons. All in all, a highly entertaining comment thread.
