"Those who are serious in ridiculous matters will be ridiculous in serious matters.”
(Cato the Elder
(Roman statesman))
“Wisdom gives a man patience…”
(Proverbs 19:11)
The Bachelor became an instant TV hit in 2002 when it
first came on the air. What an
interesting premise: a single man searching for the woman of his dreams to
spend the rest of his life with- and having 25 attractive females to choose
from in a captive audience! He gets to
essentially speed date all of these women who are all in pursuit of him. And from these brief encounters, he is
expected to make the decision to marry one of them.
This lifelong commitment is born out of 6 weeks of dating the
supposed “Mrs. Right” while being filmed AND splitting time seeing 24 other
women concurrently. It starts on a level
playing field; everyone is complete strangers at the beginning of the show and are
having their first conversations there. Common
sense would dictate that it would be difficult for anyone to know anyone particularly
well, let alone have enough to base a serious marriage proposal off of. It’s completely ridiculous, but an engagement
is the goal of each season.
So how would it ever work?
The Bachelor seems to be big on participants finding their long
lost “soulmate”; if they found the right person, they would know they were
meant for each other. The rest would
fall into place.
But if that “soulmate” even exists, is she even there? And can you have two “soulmates” who are
both there? The reality is that this arrangement
of strangers trying to make this dating scenario a serious, constructive
process leads to plenty of awkwardness. Below
are some of the common, absurd conversation snippets heard in most seasons of The
Bachelor, courtesy of AI:
[THE BACHELOR] (Eyes glistening)
This has been such an amazing journey. I’m just feeling so many different
emotions right now.
[CONTESTANT #1] (Sobbing in confessional)
I just don’t know if he’s here for the right reasons. Like, I’m literally
opening up my heart and he’s so connected to the other girls. It’s hard to
watch.
[CONTESTANT #2] (Approaching the Bachelor)
Can I steal you for a second? I just… I need some clarity on our connection.
[THE BACHELOR] (Sighs dramatically)
Sure. I feel like we have such a strong foundation. But I also feel like I’m
in a really tough spot.
[CONTESTANT #2]
I just feel like you don’t see how much I’m falling for you.
[THE BACHELOR]
I just need to know that you are fully in this. I've never felt like this
before in my life.
[CONTESTANT #1] (Steals the Bachelor back)
I'm just so crazy about you.
[THE BACHELOR]
Thank you for sharing that with me. That means so much.
In a way, it reminds me of long-term lease requests. As a Charlotte property
manager, we are sometimes approached by new rental tenants who want to sign
5+ year leases or longer upon rental application approval.
At first glance, this looks like a great thing! The owner gets a long-term tenant. The tenant gets housing stability. A match made in Heaven!
But what if the tenant signs on and winds up hating the
house? Or the tenant loves it, but winds
up being a neighborhood nuisance and doesn’t maintain the property? That would be a problem for the owner.
Sometimes starting a long-term leasing relationship right
away is too much, too fast. Neither
party knows what to expect from each other.
Both sides have not had time to assess the situation to see if it makes
sense for both parties. Starting out on
a 1-year lease is a good first step for most rental situations.
For entertainment purposes, The Bachelor tries to fast
forward casual dating into marriage. In
contrast, smart landlords are patient and not looking for high drama with their
rental tenants. They tend to wait for the
second lease (after an initial 1-year lease courtship) to determine if they
really found their rental soulmate.
Happy Landlording!
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