In every friend group, whether by chance or cosmic power, there seems always to be at least one eternally single friend.
In some cases, this is by choice, as there are indeed admirably independent people out there who like to live their lives their own way and don't want to feel beholden to others.
Of course, many of these single friends are not single by choice and would love to stop being the third wheel or the odd one out.
In the saddest cases, while this particular individual might have trouble realizing why they've never found their soulmate, almost everyone who knows them might know why.
Some even pinpointed a particular moment or instance of when this became apparent.
Redditor TakinShots was curious to hear people's stories of when it dawned on them why someone they knew was still, and would likely always be, single, leading them to ask:
"What's the dumbest thing you've heard a single person say/do that made you think 'ah, that's why they're single'?"
It's Never Attractive To Gloat...
"I was at a party where a man had been invited specifically to meet a woman who would be there - it was a set up, in other words."
"He asked her to play pool, a very innocent and pleasant way to get to know someone, right?"
"Well, he immediately started to dominate the game, and he held NOTHING back, including taunting her when she made bad shots (and just criticizing everything she did in general)."
"Of course, he won and rubbed it in her face like he was a 12-year-old (Think - IN YOUR FACE, LOSER!!!!)."
"And these people were in their 30's."
"It was straight out of a sitcom or something."
"Everyone who saw it knew why he was (and would remain) single."- justagma1172
Smell You Later!
"I once ordered shawarma, and the guy at the counter asked if I wanted garlic sauce."
"I responded, Sure put lots, I don’t have a girlfriend."
"His response was: maybe that’s why you don’t have a girlfriend."- Plan2LiveForevSFarSG
It Pays To Listen...
"'No. I don't know what she wants from me'."
"Right after his ex-gf literally enumerated all she wanted from him."
"He was basically spoonfed."
"And I'm sitting there, 'Ohh that's why'."- Pumpiyumpyyumpkin
You Can't Love Another Without Loving Yourself
"A friend of a friend who used to hang out with my roommates."
"Bigger guy, didn't really take care of himself, didn't do anything except get high and play GTA V."
"'Women these days won't date anyone unless they make six figures'."
"Yeah dude, that's definitely the problem for you."
"Has nothing to do with the lack of hygiene."- Judge_Bredd3
It's Always Fine To Make An Effort And Ask For Help:
"A friend of mine struggles with anxiety and just generally doesn't handle social situations well, so struggled with women for many years."
"Finally got talking to a girl on a dating app and asked her out - he was taking her to lunch for the afternoon, and asked if my wife and I would meet them afterward for drinks."
"When we met them for drinks, it turns out they grabbed McDonald's and drove around town to places from Craigslist so he could buy Magic The Gathering cards."
"He wore sweatpants and flipflops (it was winter and snowy.)"
"He spent most of our time angrily ranting about how an upcoming minimum wage increase was going to kill the economy and close businesses."
"He makes minimum wage."- gdawg99
Misogyny 101...
"Coworker had a short relationship and breakup and was obviously depressed about it, so I engaged and asked about it."
"His comment was 'I just don't understand how to make women feel like I believe that their opinion matters, when they always have such stupid life views'."
"I was hoping it was just a weird way of saying he's struggling to treat women equally so I asked him to talk about it a bit."
"Didn't misunderstand-- to him, mens' views are obviously superior and it's all about simply pretending that women matter, and he was struggling hard to do that."- tacoeater1234
Season 7 Nbc GIF by Brooklyn Nine-NineGiphy
Love Is A Partnership, Not A Competition
"'Whatever you can do, I can do better'."
"A couple of friends and I helped set up one of our friends to meet a girl that we all thought would be a good match for him."
"My friend was a tall country boy who was a little rough around the edges, but he has the heart of gold, will help anyone out, but the brain power of a scarecrow."
"The date we planned on going great, as they were both mechanics, and she was a tomboy who was excited to go on the meetup."
"She was very cute and outgoing, but the whole interaction between the two of them still pains me to this day."
"This poor girl made every effort to talk with him about subjects that they had in common and would be engaging(like engines, cars, building a garage, and even vaping), and my friend being a dumba**, just kept on telling her that everything she could do, he could do better."
"Like I was witnessing someone film that stupid Nike Commercial."
"After 30 minutes of getting to know each other, the poor girl had enough of his belittling/teasing and had her friend rescue her from the restaurant as the conversation was going so poorly(they were supposed to go to a bonfire together afterward)."
"To this day, I can't tell if this was my friend's feeble attempt at flirting or if he had reverted back to his 6-year-old self."
"It was like watching a car accident in slow motion, and his ill-fated attempt at a conversation still pains me to my loins."
"He still doesn't realize what he did wrong."- MurrayTDang
Meow!
"Friend dated a guy who took her cat to the shelter as a stray."
"The cat was chipped and they called her to pick it up."
"She couldn't figure out how the cat got out, and the boyfriend claimed he didn't know."
"It happened a second time, and she had the cameras checked for the person dropping the cat off."
"She called him on it, and he denied it."
"She broke up with him, but I always joke that she drove him to the shelter instead."- Ristar87
Almost Too Easy To Call Him A Mamma's Boy...
"He brought his mom on our first date and asked her to order for both of us."- Dense-Antelope-5472
Mothers Day Mom GIF by PelotonGiphy
Sick!
"I occasionally get migraines, and one of my coworkers asked me how my husband feels about me having migraines."
"Which I thought was a weird question but I replied along the lines of 'he feels bad that he can't do anything to help me when I have one'."
"Coworker then says, 'No, I mean, because like I couldn't deal being with a woman that had an illness or something like that, I'm too high energy for that, I wouldn't be able to be with her'."
"I said, so you think that my husband would want to leave me because I get migraines?"
"He said 'yeah'."
"I said, 'so if you were married and your wife got sick with something like cancer or some other disease, you'd leave her'?"
"He said yeah I didn't sign up for all of that."
"I politely told him to never get married with that attitude, people can't help that they're sick."
"Damn."- 90sMusicRules
Ignorance Is Bliss... Or Is It?
"This one is actually pretty funny."
"Met this guy at a concert."
"Told him he was hot."
"Exchanged contact info."
"We went out to dinner and to the movies a few times."
"Hung out at events we were both at."
"Mind you, he's hot, funny, polite, really socially awkward, but overall very nice."
"Man was floored when I finally just asked him point blank if he wanted to have sex."
"He did not perceive my interest."
"When I met him, I wondered hard why he was single."
"It's a small town, ya know?"
"Like... Good men are in short supply."
"It's cause he's oblivious."
"Completely oblivious."
"Last time we went out, a really hot lady was trying to pick him up, and I just sat back and watched her send signal after signal and drop hint after hint, and it rolled off him like water off a duck."- St-Nobody
Seriously, Keep Up The Times.
"Not the man himself, but I was talking to the mother of a divorced guy I know and she’s telling me that while she babysits his kids she’s been doing his garden, painting his house and making dinner from scratch, and the she says, 'he’s always complaining that I use too many pots and pans and make a mess when I cook'.”
"And now I know why his wife left him."- MichaSound
Mothers Day 90S GIF by MattielGiphy
Women's Troubles? Nope, Men's Ignorance
"Maybe not the dumbest thing he's said but it's the most consistent."
"My brother, literally anytime a woman is mad or even just annoyed with him: 'Aww did your period just start?'"
"I'm convinced my brother will die a virgin."
"It's better for humanity that way."
"My husband worked with someone who knows my brother, and she told him that my brother's attitude and behavior towards her and her friends is the reason she's a lesbian."- McSmashley
Gross
"I have an acquaintance who will pursue a woman with the sole intention of sleeping with her, take her out on dates, eventually sleep with her, then be 'heartbroken' because why are all women such tramps, give it up too easy'," etc...because she slept with him after weeks of dating."
"Then, he proceeds to ghost them and openly sh*t talk about them to mutual friends."
"Then, proceeds to complain about being single and blame it on women being too promiscuous."- pspisy
But Enough About Me, What Do You Think About Me?
"Oh my god, okay."
"There was a LOT that got said over 2 dinner dates and an afternoon walk, but the real tipping point was this:"
"At an hour-ish dinner, he arrived late, demonstrated how to use Find My for your AirPods for 10 minutes, talked about and demonstrated how bright his bike light is for 15 minutes, embarrassed the waitress with extended conversation, and mansplained my own highly-specific job to me for another 10."
"When something he said presented this side topic, I wrestled away control for 5 minutes to tell him about the DB Cooper air hijacking."
"He immediately changed the subject as soon as I was done."
"As he walked me home, he said:"
“'Empathy is all about considering what the other people around you want'."
"'When you wasted time at dinner telling that airplane story, you clearly didn’t think about whether or not I would find it interesting, and I had stuff I wanted to talk about'."
"'No wonder people don’t think you’re empathetic'.” - moreofajordan
Youre Wrong Red Flag GIF by The Vibe is RightGiphy
Some people are single simply owing to the fact that they haven't met the right person.
That being said, no matter the situation it never hurts to look back on our past behavior from time to time.
And all it can take to get a second date is a change of habit...
