DATING
What Does It Mean To Be Benching Someone You're Dating?
By TESSA A. ADAMS
If you are currently in the dating scene, you may often come across terms like situationship, ghosted, breadcrumbing, and even benching. While the other terms are quite popular, benching is a fairly new addition and has been throwing people off; if you are one of them, don’t worry, we’ve got you!
If you believe that you're not into the person you're dating enough to make a commitment but don't necessarily hate hanging out with them, you may be a bencher. Benching is similar to being benched on a sports team where you are still on the team but not necessarily in the starting line-up.
A bencher keeps the person they’re dating on standby, is inconsistent in their communication, and texts them at odd times. Many believe that benching is worse than ghosting because while ghosting allows the person who’s being ghosted to move on, benching involves one person unnecessarily stringing along the other.
If you just realized you’re a bencher, make sure you're honest with your date instead of leading them on and treating them poorly. Conversely, if you feel like you’re being benched, your best bet in this scenario is to put yourself first and sever ties with this person.