I’m Jared. I run abadcaseofthedates.com, and I really appreciate the discussion.
Early on, I realized that it’s very likely possible that it may be just one thing that upsets someone on a date, which they then explode out into a full date’s worth of offense, in the subsequent story. I’m no expert in cognition, but in my unscientific opinion, and having read thousands of these stories, what I can surmise is that there is no such thing as the simple truth. There are, however, a lot of people who are incompatible, from a romantic standpoint. If the site can make someone smile, then at least some good may have come out of it.
You did, indeed, and thanks for it.
Most stories that are sent in don’t make it up. Many run along the lines of, “We went out and she didn’t talk the whole time and it was boring and the end” or “We went out and he stared at my chest the whole time and the end.” I like stories that are well-told, and very clearly about specific people with specific quirks. Those are the most interesting to me, and I hope that those are the most interesting to my audience. I edit most posts to conform to spelling, grammar, logic, and readability considerations. Of course, I have absolutely no way to verify the veracity of submitted stories, but if I’m on the fence as to whether or not it seems possible, I usually give the writer the benefit of the doubt. Mostly because I’ve been on some bad dates, myself, and I know how strange some people can behave. At least, from my perspective. I’ve been posting rebuttals since I received the first one, back in 2011. I don’t receive them too often (after all, the odds that someone will find a story about themselves on there is quite low), but am grateful for those I’ve received.
I can understand how some of it comes across as “tragic,” as a majority of conflict seems to come from misunderstandings. However, as my grandfather said, “better the divorce should come before the wedding.” I hope that you and your readers can continue to find some laughs in the site, going forward.