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This Short Story About A Bad Date Is So Real It Hurts

There's a reason why “Cat Person” by Kristen Roupenian has gone viral
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Ever slept with someone and immediately thought, “This is the worst life decision I have ever made”? We’ve all been there – and Kristen Roupenian has perfectly captured that moment in her fictional story called Cat Person

The New Yorker piece, which chronicles a date between Margot, 20, and a cat-owner named Robert, 34, has gone viral this week.

Based on the writer’s own experiences with online dating, Cat Person has resonated strongly with other women and has been shared almost 2,500 times on Twitter.

Why is it so relatable? Maybe it’s the text message Robert sent Margot after their disasterous hook up (“No words, just hearts and faces with heart eyes and, for some reason, a dolphin.”) Or maybe it’s the way he reacted when she told him she wasn’t interested in him (“When u laguehd when I asked if you were a virgin was it because youd fucked so many guys”).

While the overwhelming response from women has been “Yes yes and yes,” men have responded, er, differently. Many have even come to the defence of Robert – a fictional character.

Bobby Nardi wrote: “Maybe in a year, Margot can run into a slimmed down, more polished looking Robert who reveals that the last half of his text were not written, or sent by him.” 

Yes, that’s exactly how the story should end. Not with Margot moving on, meeting someone she’s actually attracted to and forgetting all about her bad date with “Cat Person.” Please note: sarcasm.

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