Five native city girls went out for lunch. As we waited for our numbers to be called to receive our food, we used this time to catch up with each other.  It seemed as though very little had changed between us all since the last time we went out. The topic of men came up (big surprise). I asked one of my friends if there was anyone she was getting serious about. She simply replied, “Oh no I’m just playing the field.” The rest of us looked at each other before we burst into laughter. For some reason the phrase playing the field struck a nerve in all of us. Even those of us who were in a committed relationship, didn’t reject or judge the idea of casual dating.  I know for a fact that casual dating can be less stressful and allow you to have more freedom to do whatever. I rather have a few choices to select from than to be tied down to the wrong person, and they all agreed with me. We understood where our friend was coming from. When we finally got our food and drinks and settled into our booth we raised our glasses of Dr.pepper, ice tea and water, made a quick toast to Playing the field and started to chow down.

Later that day after we all parted, me and my friend that likes to play the field decided to do a little shopping. I had recently introduced her to a nice guy I met. He seemed perfect for her. While we were flipping through clothes in a department store I asked her if they ever decided to work something out. She continued to flip through blouses and without looking up she stated, “Yeah girl, we talked on the phone but he wanted a serious relationship” I stopped what I was doing and told her that she was missing out of a real catch. She laughed and repeated the phrase ‘playing the field’ again. I took it for what it was; she was serious about not getting serious. Then I started to think, to what extent can playing the field make you miss out on a good catch?

Playing the field has its advantages, but it can also be dangerous. Sure, not being handcuffed to one person can be liberating, but what if you’re missing out on a potentially great relationship. A person can be on cloud nine with all the losers that aren’t worth committing to, and forget to look down every now and then to check for a level headed guy on their radar.People get so wrapped up in playing the field, they loose sight of what they really want, ultimately missing out on a good relationship. So then I began wondering is the fun of playing the field worth missing out on a good catch?

I think the answer would have to be no. Some People only casually date because the people they are dating aren’t worth committing to for whatever reason. When someone plays the field they should consider that the only reason the people they date are even on the field is because they didn’t hit a homerun from the start. Their game wasn’t good enough, leaving them to fill up a base on the field. Sure playing the field is fun. All bases loaded and lots of options to choose from, but if you can find that one good catch you could put everyone else on the field out.