naa. mine was at 32. my wife of 7 years, she was 41, had just died. i was alone in a house. came into money. paid off house. heard father in law tell me dont be a hermit, we love you. so i dated later that year. it was a mistake. obviously. but i wasnt alone. problem was when i “woke” i realized this person was truly using me and my vulnerability. moved on from that asap of course!

No. I objectively missing my teenager and 20s dating. It was vastly superior to my 30s/40s dating.

and the reasons the relationships ended in those years was much normal/sane/healthy than the ones I encounter as an adult.

That's basically the point.

The men are saying "She's out of my league".

The women, 10+ years later, realize that they could have done a lot better -- she was out of his league.

Mine was late 20's with folks +/-2 years; I got a lot of folks wanting a father figure, or wanting a provider. The level of possessive crazy was also just off the chart.

Different strokes for different folks.

As someone who teaches 18/19 year olds (and overhears snatches of their lives), trust me, they're dumber than you remember being. It's not worth it; their priorities and yours DO NOT align.

I'm embarrassed about who my wife dated when she was 19. She tells these stories and all I can think is why didn't you dump me?

I think for most men it is also the lowest of our dating standards. Everyone was just so dumb.

It was her biggest mistake not mine!

/j

As a woman person I can confirm my worst choices were when I was still young and developing. I wasn’t 19, but 20.

My choices didn't get much better, but thats why I eventually stopped dating entirely. I’m a shit judge of mates, and choose the worst for me (yay trauma!!) so I just don't anymore, it’s so much easier. I’m tired of trying to grow and being brought back down by shitty men. Much rather bring myself down.

However of all the bad, that age brought me the worst. He turned out to be a convicted felon rapist (not of me. happened after he stalked me for 2 years which was itself after he moved 1300 miles to be close to me when I left him and moved home), which I discovered through court access years later. I dodged that bullet, for sure. I mean it grazed me, but didn’t hit. Sorry to the lady behind me. :(

I'm 40, I couldn't fathom the effort required to date anyone under the age of 25

Yup, shortly before I hit 20 I got into a spectacularly bad idea of a relationship with a 37 year old woman.

My advice to a friend was “If he’s so mature, why aren’t all the mature women lining up to date him?”

At 19, I don’t think the advice stuck

asked my wife about this, she told me to fuck off and that it she still can't talk to her mother about that.

Which is weird because I was the person she dated when she was 19

Considering the kinds of men who tend to seek out much younger women, it's less "funny" and more "very concerning".

I dated my wife when she was 19 and so was I. As I was a dick then, this all tracks.

(I'm also a dick now, but I was a dick then too #mitchHedberg)

Can confirm, I was awkward and embarrassing as a 19-yr old. I'm sorry to all my ex-girlfriends back then.

Granted, most of them dated me because I had a "bad boy" look and they were disappointed when they found out I was actually a quiet, introverted nerd. I was almost always the dumpee in my relationships.