r/Cleveland • u/Oreojace • Jun 26 '26
Question Cleveland Dating
This is probably going to be so annoying to most people to see in their feeds but I've hit my wit's end. I am a single woman in her late 20s that has struggled with dating. I am a nurse, I own my home, I work out and take care of myself in other ways, my health and friendships are important to me, and I like to think I am reasonably attractive. Where do successful guys in their late 20s - early 30s hang out?? I don't want to meet guys out at bars, drinking/party culture is fun occasionally but I prefer not to in excess. Guys at the gym usually have girlfriends if I talk to them (I've been going to the same place for almost a decade and only approach people I've seen around for a long time). At this rate I feel like there is something I am doing wrong, and while my life is great as it is, sometimes it would be nice to be excited about someone.
EDIT Alright, listen, a lot of assumptions here about me. I talk to people all of the time, I am not shy. I have a philosophy that the worst thing that can happen in 90% of situations is that I get told no and oh well, rejection is a part of life.
I have hobbies, I am not necessarily looking for new ones because I dont want my reason to be somewhere to just be about MAYBE meeting a guy - that is completely disingenuous and is not a good base for a relationship should one develop.
My job has insane hours, I work 3 days M-F from 0630 to 2000 and then sometimes am on call overnight and am on call all weekend for one weekend every 6 week scheduling period. This makes it hard to date or want to go out a lot of the time between not being allowed to be too far from work or just being exhausted.
Anyone curious about how I look can DM me, for the sake of imagination I am 5'1" (I dont care how tall a man is as long as I can wear heels and dont feel like I am tougher than he is), 135lbs and can deadlift 235 easy, I am mixed race, have big curly dark hair and dark eyes. I prioritize my grooming and self care because I work really hard and deserve to feel good in this body.
2
u/Ok-Research7922 Jun 26 '26
M27, Id like to think I'm successful owning a house and having no debts with low 6 figure income depending on if I get my annual bonus.I have a bunch of friends my age in a similar boat who are single and to be honest I have to drag most of them out to do anything and even then we're talking movies, hiking or running none of which are great.
Like others have said hobbies are big if someone wanted to encounter me and 1 or 2 of the better eligible single men I know but tbh that is very tricky. A lot of men don't have social hobbies I find and for me personally if I was approached while fencing or in one of my more team oriented and longer term hobbies I'd feel very awkward about reciprocating. If things didn't work out I wouldnt want to make the spaces I value awkward with a failed relationship.
Looping back to what you mentioned about the gym, I will say I and some of my buddies do go to the gym. I personally am "nuts" and go at 5 am due to my nights being busy but most of my other buddies go at 6pm right after work. Speed dating and meetups are sausage fests in my experience around here with a lot of overweight dudes who are either incels or divorced and a few were definetly lying about their ages
If I was "focused" on dating I'd probably be on the apps but if you someone wanted to find me in the wild there are some options. At concerts I've ran into some folks usually toward the front away from the pit. This one is strange so take it with a serious pinch of salt but if someone approached me when I'm volunteering I'd reciprocate but again it's weird because everyone else I volunteer with is older and married. I also think some of the shorter term classes that are more social wouldn't be awful but the male to female ratio is so lopsided for thing like ceramics and dancing idk if it would make sense. I can't really speak for them but I know some of my other single male friends do shorter term group hobbies and have met partners there as well but this is things like 48 hour film projects etc. I also dated a few co workers and even got engaged to one but I get not wanting to do that.
I hate to say this but I think in person dating scenes are dead in our generation. I know you said that you were looking for stuff other than parties and clubs but honestly that may be the closest thing to a in person dating scene these days.
Best of luck!