You see Jon Hamm now and you know he is the man. But despite whatever it is you may think to the opposite, he wasn’t always the man. Heck, I would go so far as to say he had a kind of awkward period. How do I know this? Well, Jon Hamm lost on a dating show when he was younger, and we just happen to have the footage. What this ultimately proves is a theory I have thought for a very long time. You are either cool for the first half of your life, or cool for the second half of your life. You are never both. Clear after you watch this that Jon Hamm is cool for the second half of his life. I just don’t think he knew that yet when he went on “The Big Date” and lost. Yup. Lost.

First thing you will notice about this footage is his bangs. Yeah, dude’s got “floppy bangs”, which were the bane of all young men growing up in the 80’s and 90’s (think Boy Meets World Rider Strong and you have a good idea). Next up, he is “over cooling” it. That is when you try to act way too cool, but it comes across as transparent. Well, I think I have talked enough about this. I will let the footage speak for itself now.

So basically, the next time you feel bad for yourself or feel hopeless, just watch this footage of that time Jon Hamm lost on a dating show and you will honestly realize the saying is true. It does get better.

(Photo by Tim Whitby/Getty Images)