Just Sayin': Dating nowadays? Simply, it's frustrating

Dating as a 24-year-old has been hard. Dating culture has changed significantly in the past few years, especially since the increased popularity of TikTok.

New words are being introduced into that hookup culture, such as “situationship.” The definition of this new word ranges from still talking and haven’t met in person to “friends with benefits.” There is also “delusionship” — one-sided dating or a friends-with-benefits relationship. I admittedly fall into this latter “ship.”

I’ve been told I have high standards about who I would date (self-sufficient, ability to get their own health care, etc.). However, I say the same to my friends who simply seek someone taller than 6 feet. One’s high standards is another’s bare minimum.

Frustration is shared among my friends. Do I blame dating apps? No one thing is to blame. My friends and I have what is seen as “old-fashioned views” about dating.

I think dating and hookup culture is accelerating faster than anyone could imagine. People are learning what they want in life whether that includes sharing that life with someone or not.

— Kimberly Groshans, Floral Park

New Hyde Park isn’t being antisemitic

A reader’s hyperbolic language expressed his objection to New Hyde Park holding its street fair on Sept. 16, Rosh Hashanah.[“Jewish holy day isn’t the time to hold a fair,” Just Sayin’, July 15]. The village was, perhaps, thoughtless but not antisemitic.

If the reader and other observant Jewish people have to miss the fair to observe the High Holy Day, they should do so.

I am Jewish, and I do not consider the village’s decision as antisemitic. The only legitimate reason for objection is if the fair obstructed access to a synagogue. And even that is not antisemitic. It just shows a lack of thoughtfulness and planning. It seems other villages beat them to reserving the other Saturdays.

You don’t hear Muslims complaining about village events during Eid al-Adha or Ramadan, or how cruel and insulting it is to have the smell of fried food filling the street when they must fast. And even Christians don’t ask that everything be closed on Easter.

There’s enough real antisemitism these days without seeking to find it where it doesn’t exist. This should be the worst affront members of the New Hyde Park Jewish community suffer.

— Suzanne Mueller, Great Neck

Empathy can be seen in unlikely places

One of the most uplifting and learnable behind-the-scenes stories from the first half of the baseball season was provided by the Yankees’ Kyle Higashioka. He checked on the condition of the Red Sox pitcher after Tanner Houck suffered a facial fracture when Higashioka lined a ball off the pitcher’s face. Youngsters, in particular, need to know of this act of empathy as a most-needed model.

— Fred Barnett, Lake Grove