How confused are we when it comes to our relationships? Well, according to this infographic on Americans' Weird Habits, we're more in love with our phones than each other, we're sleeping with cats and dogs, and we don't know when we're on a date. Oh wait -- I forgot the part about how we all have assigned seating in our homes. Are we really this messed up about our love lives?
1. Given the choice between life without a cellphone or life without sex, 26 percent of us would keep the phone, and 20 percent of us would keep the sex. Well ... that's not a huge difference. I'm a little sad for the people who would choose their phones, but mostly I'm grateful we don't actually have to choose between the two.
2. But what's this about 44 percent of us sleeping with our phones? Like actually in the bed with us? Or maybe just under the pillow where we left them after finishing that one last play in Words With Friends? Not that I would know anything about that.
3. And 58 percent of us sleep with a dog or a cat? Where does that leave significant others? Oh, right ...
4. More and more of us are living alone these days, more than one in four of us.
5. And no wonder, because apparently we don't even know how to date. Supposedly 69 percent of singles are unsure whether an outing with someone they like is actually, like, a date date or just hanging out.
6. As for having assigned seats in our living rooms, well, that's probably good for our relationships because it keeps disputes down. Right? Unless that's totally bizarre, too. Actually, now that I think about it ...
If you take all of these little factoids, if you believe them, and create a composite person, you have a loner-type who doesn't know how to have a relationship. Someone who probably isn't too keen on eye contact because they're constantly staring at their phone. And someone who's a bit inflexible about sharing space with others.
But obviously we're not all this weird. People go on real dates all the time, and we're fully aware that it's a date. We learn how to compromise, even about our favorite chair. And if you think about it, dogs fit at the foot of the bed just fine, and "sleeping" with your phone usually means keeping it next to you on the bedside table.
So maybe all of these little factoids are true on some level -- but I don't think they show us the whole picture of how relationship-ready we all are. We're not quite as hopeless as all that.
Do these "weird habits" ring true to you, or do they just seem weird out of context?
Image via David Adelman and Alex Hillsberg