Deal Breakers

By Sarah Johnson |Staff Writer|

Roughly 50 percent of American adults are single, according to Public Radio International, which is a 28 percent raise from 1950.

You’d think with all the advances in technology, social media, and online dating sites, this number wouldn’t be so high, right? Wrong.

With technology making it so easy to meet any and every one, we’ve become somewhat picky, selective, or stuck up—whichever way you choose to look at it.

“There’s a little paradox-of-choice problem. You have so many different options that it’s easy to find the flaws with each one,” according to Eric Klinenberg, sociology professor at New York University and author of “Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone.”

Whether it’s one thing or 50 things, we all have our limits that make us no longer wish to pursue a person. These are what we call deal breakers.

I’ve found that men and women share a variety of deal breakers, some as serious as religion or political beliefs, and some as seemingly silly as whether they’re a dog or cat person.

A CSUSB alumnus, who prefers to remain anonymous, said her deal breaker is when a guy is balding and tries to hold onto what’s left of his hair. “Just shave your head, it’ll look way better!” she said.

Student Maria Sanchez stated her deal breaker is “when a guy spends more time in front of the mirror than I do.”

Student Cindy Ayala has more of a legitimate deal breaker. She stated, “if you can’t have a serious conversation about something, one of our passions, regardless if we have different likes or dislikes, that’s a deal breaker.”

“I think my biggest deal breaker is someone who isn’t family oriented, or doesn’t get along with his mother,” said student Merissa Nadeau.

“If she can’t cook that’s a deal breaker, only because I love to cook and that’s just one of those grown-up things people still have trouble with,” said student Mingo Vera.

Any sort of cigarette, vapor, or marijuana use was also a trend in the deal breaker list.

Student Lacey Cantu said, “cigarettes, weed, whatever. I can’t.”

Students also noted that being rude to the wait staff while at dinner is an immediate deal breaker, and a lousy tipper is the cherry on top.

“I can’t date the princess type. If she seems as though she’s waiting for prince charming to come by and sweep her off her feet, I’m stepping aside and letting her wait,” said student Aaron Myers.

I personally couldn’t date a guy who takes himself too seriously.

If you can’t laugh at yourself or my humor, then get out of here; I provide plenty of laughter on my own.

There are a lot of deal breakers, but I think there are places to compromise when you really like someone.

At the end of the day, if the only thing you don’t like about a person is the fact that they like cats and you like dogs, you may need to re-evaluate your priorities.