50 Worst Dates, the debut book from Canadian author Jane Laboucane released this month, is a candid and personal exploration of the trials and tribulations of modern-day dating.
An indigenous writer from Treaty 8 territory, born and raised in Fort St. John, Laboucane now lives in Toronto, and has been searching for ‘The One’ for the past ten years, including an on and off relationship with ‘Babycakes’, her long-term ex-boyfriend.
“The stories have really provided a lot of entertainment for my friends and family, and I know that dating, that’s one of my favourite things to ask friends about because everybody can relate and awful date are entertaining,” said Laboucane.
One of the worst of the worst dates involved a lawyer who tried to rope Laboucane into a foursome on their second date.
“It was made all the worse because I didn’t understand what was going on at the time,” she said. “I just thought it was a very strange evening and that the other three people with us were very very weird. That was pretty terrible.”
Another man took her to a bar for the first date, started ordering shots for basically everyone in the bar, and left her with the bill after his credit card was declined, says Laboucane. The man then tried to convince her to come home with him.
Other terrible dates include a celebrity chef with kleptomania, a tech worker with the ability to see dead people, and many more. Laboucane admits that she bears some responsibility for the bad dates.
“My attraction towards a man tends be directly related to the number of red flags he exhibits,” Laboucane said, noting she hasn’t found ‘The One’ just yet.
“So, working on that. I don’t think all of the bad dates are necessarily my fault, but I have not managed to find a partner,” she added.
The nature of dating has also changed, says Laboucane, especially in the digital age, as potential partners (good or terrible) are only a swipe away on Tinder or Bumble.
“With the dating apps it’s become something almost akin to gambling, I would say. It can become incredibly addicting,” she said. “So I know people even, you know, they have long term partners and other people have found their partners on the dating apps.”
Nuances and tone of voice have been lost in age of texting, added Laboucane, who grew up in the 90s, when people had to speak to potential suitors over the phone or face to face.
“I feel like we’ve just become such a society obsessed with instant gratification, so you want what you want now, and you don’t necessarily want to have to put in the effort to kind of get there,” she said.
