Search Results: get things back to how they were

28F, I have had no luck on dating apps for the years I’ve been on and off them. I dated someone briefly for a few months back when I was 23, it just wasn’t a good experience. Since then I refuse to settle for anyone again, I think I am genuinely unlucky. I was bullied as a kid up to HS, some of my family wasn’t any better. I struggled with my weight & when I was 23 I lost a good amount of it, I’m the same weight now for the most part. I didn’t get any more attention, weight loss results in a lot of attention for people. You’d think as a woman it’s easier & I think it is for most but not me. Funny thing is I’m told I’m cute/attractive by people (not only by family) but guys never approach me in person. I’m not a friendly person which is why I use the apps, I get matches but in the end it doesn’t work out for all the reasons you can think of. I told myself at 26 if I’m in the same position we have a problem, 2 years later & I think it’s time to throw the towel. I think for a while I’ve become more & more disinterested in using them too, maybe I go through phases? Most people are taken, married & have kids at my age, it’s not meant to be if it hasn’t happened for me yet in my opinion.

So a 32 year old friend I know who has a wife and child posted (on Instagram) a very cute family picture that I found absolutely adorable... what I didn't expect to find was all his friends in the comment section making fun of him for his "dad shorts" and "his shorts being way too short."

He himself seemed cool about it and didn't mind. He was just kind of like, "They're literally not that short though? But if I made you laugh, that's a good thing I guess, haha." His wife even came in from her account and started saying stuff like, "Noooo! His shorts are absolutely not too short! I literally helped him pick them out! They're the perfect length for men's shorts, whether you like it or not! Goodbye to long baggy cargo shorts! Haha."

Overall it seemed pretty lighthearted, and no one was truly offended, but... I was just kind of confused. Is this really the length of shorts people nowadays consider "dad shorts" or "short shorts for men?" That's literally just a few inches above the knee, like 3-5... I agree with what his wife said when she came to "defend" him, they're literally the perfect/ideal length for men's shorts and as inoffensive as it can get...

Back in the 1970s and some of the 80s they had real "dad shorts" or "short shorts for men." Shorts that barely covered their butt cheeks. A few inches above the knee is not nearly that short!

Back in the 1990s and earlier 2000s though they had some quite huge, baggy, long shorts... if you're used to these, then I guess my 32 year old friend's shorts could seem like "dad shorts" in comparison. They're still nowhere near the real dad shorts of the 70s though. They just simply aren't excessively long... which to some equals "dad shorts" or "short shorts" I guess.