Ghosted & toasted: Real-life horrifying tales of modern dating

 

 

 

Ghosted in October? How Festive. 

 

‘’Ghosting - the practice of ending a personal relationship with someone by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication.’’

 

 

 

 

 

Has your date gone radio silent? 

 

What's even worse than a breakup is discovering that someone didn't think you were worth a proper goodbye. For those who have been ghosted, it's a frustrating and unsatisfying experience, leaving them yearning for closure. 

 

On the flip side, those who do the ghosting often wrestle with their own sense of guilt afterwards. However, many ultimately prefer silence over confronting relationship issues and potential conflicts.

 

 

 

 

Here are real-life stories from real everyday people who have been ghosted and have ghosted:

 

1. Matched with a guy on Bumble and let’s call him Clark Kent. I was in Dubai and the man was still in Germany (travel mode).  We talked to each other almost every day for 2 weeks, exchanging voice notes, and photos. He said he’d come to visit me in Dubai *FINALLY* and then a day before his supposed flight, he stopped responding. I sent a few more messages to check if something had gone wrong with his flight, but there was nothing. The next day, his profile photo on WhatsApp disappeared, and he unmatched me on Bumble. :’) 

 

- Cat woman

 

 

 

 

2.  I was in a relationship with someone for almost a year, went to three different countries together, said our ‘’I love yous,’’ planned a life together and then boom, one day he disappeared. No breakup, no nothing. It’s been over 4 months. Safe to say I’m single now.

 

- A to Z

 

 

 

 

3. Let’s call him ‘’cake guy.’’ First of all, I was obsessed with how toxic he was/is. But I didn’t care, he was hot AF. So I ''shoot my shot'' with the cake guy, and it was 10 PM when he asked me to come over to his place and watch him pack for his flight the next day. And of course, I said yes. We had a moment, but it felt like it was too much of a ‘’bro’’ moment, and no one made a move. I left his place and got a hug at the end of it. Texted him 3 to 4 days later, weeks later, MONTHS later. And not a word back. But there I was, still waiting, and remained loyal for a full year, hoping that he’d come back for me. 

 

- Pumpkin Spiced Latte

 

 

 

 

4.  I was in a relationship with this guy for 5 years. One day he said he had to leave Dubai to move back to Cyprus to take care of his grandparents, but promised to keep visiting, NEVER DID. Later I found out that he had a psychotic break and burned down a forest, got arrested, was sentenced to be in prison for 2 years, and in the middle of all of it, his mother called me to tell me that he committed suicide. Two years later, the dead sent me a lengthy email, explaining how he was alive this entire time and wants to get back together and get married. Not just a ghost, but a full-blown zombie. And just a few weeks ago, he showed up at church (in Dubai) from Cyprus unannounced, so my parents had to get involved. You cannot make this shit up, I still have PTSD. 

 

- Livanna

 

 

 

 

5.  So this guy I matched with on the app, loved-bombed me for weeks, and when it was time to meet up, he broke his foot (sent over evidence and all) He said we could meet up the following day over at his place instead. I was genuinely interested in him, so I said yes. The following day - Didn’t hear anything from him. So I checked in just to see if everything was okay and if we were still on for that night, and he came back with ‘’I’m not used to such attention, I’m not liking it. I don't think this is gonna work out.’’ We were exchanging a few more messages after that, and then he blocked me somewhere in between. Lol.

 

- Saxa

 

 

 

 

6. The last-minute date. Met up with this guy much older than me on a lonely Sunday night. I opened up to him and he seemed incredibly mature and he’s been through shit himself so I reckon he understood where I was coming from. We had a great first date, and he immediately asked me out for a second date. The next day rolled in, and he rescheduled last minute due to some work in another city but assured me he’d see me after work the following day. The following day came and ended, and I heard nothing back. Texted him a couple of times, but no responses, just ‘’seen'' a bit childish for a middle-aged man aren’t we?

 

- Fj

 

 

 

 

8.  The usual, tinder date. I was set on just hooking up with this guy, but I thought, mmm he seems nice, let’s give it a shot. First date, and boy oh boy, he’s a lot shorter than what’s stated in his profile. We went over to his place anyway, too late to back out now - Netflix and chill. And he put on 365 days *of course* things got steamy, I was celibate for a while so you can only imagine. On my way out of his place, I was texting a different guy, and this Tinder date asked me out for a second date immediately after. Long story short, I disappeared from the face of the earth. Not because he lied about his height, but because his package is more like a hamster treat. 

 

- SorryNotSorryDXB

 

 

 

 

9. I met this guy in Dubai, he’s cabin crew from Amsterdam. We got along really well. Kept in touch for months after ending his contract at the airline. I planned an entire trip to Amsterdam just to see him, everything was set, I was going to fly out and stay at his place and have a full week of just us. A few weeks before my flight, something seemed off. He started messaging me less. I didn’t mind at first, but then his social media disappeared, and when I confronted him about it, he said he deactivated it. A couple of weeks before my flight, something was still not sitting right with me. So I pestered him into opening up, and long story short, the man has a girlfriend in Amsterdam, right after he admitted it he blocked me on Whatsapp, Telegram, and everywhere else. 

 

- D.

 

 

 

 

SPECIAL MENTIONS:

 

This is the story of a ‘’friend.’’ We were family friends, and I helped her with everything when she moved to Dubai. After university, she started talking badly about me about how evil I was and made it seem like I abused her. So I investigated and found out that she told a few people the same fake news. So I blocked her number without context, and without an explanation. The girl practically lived in my house, and took her out and introduced her to all of my friends.

 

- Ella

 

I sent my homeboy a text asking when we were chilling, 2 days later I found out he died in a hiking accident, he ghosted me for real. 

 

- Sad Boy Pablo

 

Stay safe during this festive season my darlings!

- Harley