The dating and mating game is constantly evolving, and not always for the better. While meeting potential new partners has become easier these days through social media and technological breakthroughs, building relations through face-to-face interaction is now in flux.
A rising new trend referred to as ghosting has some sectors worried that relationships have become easier to tear apart.
While men and women have been known to suddenly up and leave their partners without warning in the past, this was not too common. Good manners and right conduct dictates that a man or a woman wanting to break up with his/her partner has to bite the bullet and tell the person in person the reason for wanting to leave.
Whether the reason is valid or not is not the issue. For the gents, the phrase has been to “man up” and accept the responsibility. Men are expected to say goodbye in person.
Women, on the other hand, have been known to write “Dear John” letters to their partners as one way of saying farewell if they could not face their soon-to-be ex-husbands or boyfriends in person.
Ghosting does away with all the niceties. With ghosting, one partner simply disappears from the life of the significant other. No text, no email, no phone call. Nada. No reasons are given.
A couple may appear to be happy when one of them literally disappears like some sort of ghost.
Ghosting is, of course, inexcusable. It smacks of extreme cowardice when one does not even have the guts to face what he or she believes to be the truth. Worst of all, ghosting leaves a lot of unfinished business, and neither party will be able to find peace until all the issues have been settled.
Saying goodbye may not be the easiest thing in the world to do, but not saying goodbye and simply disappearing only makes matters worse.