don't do it

Don’t tell a single person “Oh, you’ll find someone”. Also, don’t list for them their attractive qualities, nor exclaim how there are lots of people out there who’d be interested in someone with those qualities. Especially don’t tell this to a single person who is really tired of being alone, and even more especially don’t do it when you’re not a single person.

Because, seriously, when has that ever helped that single person feel better?

You may mean well. You might truly feel bad for the single person. But I’m kind of thinking that those statements aren’t really meant to make the single person feel better. They’re meant for you, the non-single person, to feel better. If you can convince yourself that the unhappy single person deserves to be happily un-single, and that it’s sure to happen soon, then you don’t have to feel so bad for them. And if they’re your friend, you’re absolved from any further action toward helping your friend in this matter, or any guilt in not helping them.

So, fine, if you need to feel better about your friend’s lack of love in their life, or even lack of like in their life, go ahead and tell them some trite nonsense. But just so you know, it might actually make them feel worse. They might even get a little angry. They will if they’re me.