Indeed. Never truer words.


Diplomas/titles/hobbies/money etc etc bragging is uncool. Don't know if other people/dates are interested in all this stuff, after a while it really gets boring.

True.

When you date the other person is interested in you. Who you are, what values and outlooks you have, what sort of person you are, how you deal with situations.

Talking about youir diplomas is almost like talking about work. It's boring to everybody else.

It is not boring to listen to people sharing about their work and missions. But my opinion might be in a minority, I realize that.

It is not what people say but how. How dates share about what makes life interesting (whatever it is, work included - we still have to spend more or less majority of awake time at work) tells me a lot about them. There are people who really like their work.

Maybe OP grates on guys by simply being confident. But again, I fail to see it as a gender issue.

You have a job where your work says a lot about who you are. You interact with people and their values and outlooks and that says as much about you as it does about them.

But if your job is to sit in an office and look at Excel all day, there is only so much you can narrate before it's time to change the topic.

Now if instead you talk to a taxi driver or a tourist guide, I'm sure you can hear anecdotes by the dozen and talking about work is totally different.

I always thought that the frea..I mean the person who can get really excited about some boring rut or wreched number crunching deserves attention.

What's Excel?

I am kidding.

The cab drivers and tourist guides I know dream about a bit of dull, I swear. That reminds me, maybe OP needs to ditch her dating apps and take a cab a few times...book herself a couple of tourist tours?

Today I tried to get people excited about one phoneme. I am not sure that I managed to spread the phoneme joy.

Talking about the grind or schooling is a bit of necessary evil to help understand who this new person you are meeting is. I agree, work is sometimes dull to talk about, sometimes it is also exciting as MusicChick said.

It's part of that Shit Test

What's a shit test. I am a cave person.

That site makes no sense, tbh. It is too strategic. People who care for that feel disingenuous. Which brings me to the bit that I like (probably the most) when people genuinely share their passions..

Right there, the game that people play with each other..

Yeah, there is a difference between someone simply talking about their work or their interests and someone who is bragging about what they do or what degrees they have, etc. Also, someone who has a fragile ego might easily perceive someone else as bragging when actually they aren't. The other day, my friend asked me what book I'm reading. I said it's about quantum gravity, and she made a weird bowing down gesture and said something to the effect that I am smarter than she is, which I found a bit strange.

I agree with MusicChick that it isn't just a gender thing. I think it's just an ego thing in general. And of course, now we're living in the age of social media, where bragging and overt narcissism seems to be considered, by many, to be the new norm.

Indeed. All the ‘look at me! Look at me! Look how clever I am’ stuff is really not cool at all.

I've always done the opposite.

Back when I was dating between wives, my girlfriend (now wife) described me as the richest bum she'd ever met!

Tom

I find a lot of the woman here who are independent are so into developing their careers they never make the time or put effort into a relationship.

I'd date a quantum analyst in Zug if they are a really nice person!

Talking about work or what one has studied is just inevitable. It's part of who you are. And it can be interesting too. Some people can and do talk about their work without sounding boring or self-important...at least as long as it's not the only thing they can talk about.
A bit of empathy goes a long way though. Trying to impress can achieve just the opposite. If we're talking only about "dates"...well, chemistry depends on so many other things. It can be simple gestures or the way one smiles, it's not all...purely intellectual.
And about your friend.... well, I guess you would know if she meant it or was just making some self-deprecating joke. Or was being insecure. (people can be weirdly insecure at times)

It's like most of those supposedly super useful dating tips.

They sound cool in theory, but unless you're somehow manipulative and scheming or a seasoned pickup artist, you forget about all that in a real situation and just talk whatever feels right, and then you wonder that things worked out (or didn't) nevertheless.

Haha, Dating Apps are the worst!

I remember in America years ago (like 8-10) when they first started arriving on the scene, WOWzers the amount of lies, fake pictures, 10 year old pictures, crazies that will say anything online. I am assuming its worse nowadays.

I met my wife through work and we knew each other for awhile before anything transpired.

Nowadays, I would assume the good ol' friend of a friend, work, group activities, random encounters at the supermarket or gym, etc. are one's best bet for meeting a potential date, male or female.

I think for one to successfully date a Swiss, they just need to be themselves. Either you and the other person like each other or you don't and thats not just uniquely Swiss.

did anyone read 'the hausfrau' book from a few years ago. it stars a swiss man as the antagonist.

Will it ease the OP's mind?

Yeah, I know.

OP seems to be checking with us if the attitude she's getting is Swiss particular or if she should still keep giving chances to the local..."offers", I guess. I don't think there is anything particularly cultural about that here, if anything it would be more honesty, or directness. Which I like, lot of people appreciate it. Though it is true that the traditional "Head of the family" (male) stuff existed here for real long, it was even an official term.

Clever people don't need to point that out. I don't know, I always associated cleverness with a good dose of modesty and how should I put it...restraint.

That’s my feeling too.
Truly clever people don’t need to tell everyone how clever they are, their intelligence speaks for itself.

I'm quite a passive person, and not a lot of friend making skills so I do a lot of listening and blind agreement. So a lot of the people I hang out with are ones that need to talk about themselves (no one on EF for those who know me :P ).

It's almost entertaining: I know exactly which of these people have PhDs because they seem to mention it in every conversation. Sometimes twice.
I know which ones work in finance, because again apparently it needs to come up in every conversation.
Don't get me started on endurance sports

Just recently I received the one random comment on how they KNOW how to use excel and they use it at work all the time!?!? Strange flex.

Inferiority complex is a fascinating and amusing topic!

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