Online dating. Hmm.
Let's call this post The Joys and Pains of Online Dating; or, "Phew! I'm so glad I'm not out there!"
Lately there has been much ado about online dating amongst those of my acquaintance, and their experiences vary greatly. My ex-husband lucked out and found his girlfriend in record time online. They have been happily shacked up for quite some time now.
On the other hand:
-I have a friend who has returned to the dating scene after a 20+ year absence. She went on Plenty of Fish, and has suffered from its overt tendency to be full of men looking for younger women. In her early 40's, she's being contacted by men in their upper 50's and even in their 60's. She's young and energetic, with two young kids, the last thing she needs is some old goober prowling just because he wants a young thing.
-Another friend is on OkCupid, and recently men have been sending her messages that are rude and insulting. Not her taking offense and seeing things as insulting...the purpose of these messages was definitely to insult. Why the hell would you be on a dating website and spend your time insulting people? How anti-social and/or stupid are you?
-A few days ago, a newly-single acquaintance pondered the online dating scene, but he was warned off by another friend who has had little success with online dating.
The thing is, I can't really relate to this string of experiences. My experience with online dating was quite brief, and...well, successful. I got several laughable late-night booty call messages, but when it came time to get down to business, I made a date, I had it, and it turned until a thing that worked until it didn't. Beyond the traditional online dating experience, I posted an ad online to the 'I Saw You' column of Vancouver's Georgia Straight about a random guy I saw one night, and damn if that didn't work out too, until I left Vancouver. I don't mean for this to come off as bragging, I mean it entirely as a reason why I can't relate to the experiences of my friends and acquaintances.
Whatever is going on, it makes me so glad that I'm not out there on the dating scene. Even better, it seems I should be overjoyed that I don't have to navigate the perils of online dating. I fear that if my experiences were more like my friends' experiences, I would be enbittered and sad about the state of humanity today (cause that's how I roll).
To all my friends out there right now...Respect.
Good luck...
...Wish you were here.
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