We've all been at that place where you're flirting with someone and you think that by this time next week you'll be hand in hand at the movies... but it never happens. Sometimes you get ghosted, but the new 'trend' is even more cruel... BENCHING!
Benching is worse than ghosting because instead of just never contacting you again (which sucks obvs), they ignore you... and then COME BACK! Suddenyl they have all the time in the world for you again and they reel you back in on their flirty hook... only to do it all over again.
New York writer and editor Jason Chen coined the term, and reckons benching is just a power play and ego trip for the 'bencher'. While the 'benchee' waits for a text back (that arrives two weeks later) the bencher gets to act "superficially polite".
Jean, who sadly has been benched before, reckons the bencher "wants to feel good about himself, so he won’t ghost or break up with you. If you’re ghosted, you get to go through all the stages of grief. But when someone disappears and then continues to text you, you don’t even get that. It’s like they’ve died but keep coming back to life.”
Whatever reasons people are doing it, there's no doubt it's selfish, rude and technology is making it even easier to do. How about we try this everyone: JUST TELL ME IF YOU LIKE ME OR NOT!