Thursday, September 04, 2008

taking the plunge

it's official. i'm experimenting with online dating.

see, it started with little nudges from my friends, little jokes or threats here and there. nothing persuasive, though, since i'm honestly content as is. then i was talking to a friend last weekend about her online dating experiences, and we agreed that even if you don't end up dating someone, it's a good way to learn more about yourself and others. that got me thinking.

i filled out the personality profile. mostly so i could just see how they described me. it all seemed accurate, except when they said i could be described as "avant-garde," going against the norm, pushing the boundaries of what makes most people comfortable. what? but i'm so traditional! oh, yeah... i guess i did travel to pakistan (and hope to go back soon)... and i did live in africa... and i did quit my steady job to be a missionary. maybe that's "pushing it" a bit. fine. just because i think that's normal doesn't mean everyone else does. who gets to define normal anyway?

after finishing my profile, i was sent a few matches. whatever. but then two of them tried to contact me! they asked a few pre-fab questions, i tried to respond, but wham! i was shut down. apparently you have to pay to respond. hmm... is it worth it?

well, i took a vote over dinner with friends. really, i didn't have to take a vote because everyone was on board. i will indeed try this online dating nonsense, and i will keep you posted on the drama that ensues. don't get your hopes up. right now i'm just answering questions. i wouldn't consider dating a single guy i've been "matched" with so far.

two side notes: 1) apparently this online dating thing is quite common. two of my dinner buddies tonight had personal experience to add to the mix. 2) from what i can tell so far, guys like to post pictures of themselves with nieces and nephews. is that supposed to be endearing? boy, this is going to be a long 3 months.

5 comments:

Michael Young said...

I've done the on-line dating a few times over the years. It doesn't carry the stigma that it once did. Like real life, it's a mixed bag. I've met several very nice women that way, and I've met a few nuts jobs that way. Just be careful and have fun with it. That's my two cents worth. (I may owe you some change.)

Anonymous said...

I did it for a month once, then tried to sign up again last year. And was rejected. Not by the womanfolk, but by eHarmony. I think they were just like, "we know how this is going to end for you, here, lets save you some time..."

So you've passed the first test!

Michael Young said...

In my comment of yesterday, I committed a major faux pas. My present girlfriend and I have been together for 2 1/2 years. How did we meet? Chemistry.com! Amazingly, that slipped my mind yesterday -- a fact that she needn't know!

Anonymous said...

i know, i know-- i am a bad communicator. this is true.

not to say i'm not super excited to be engaged, but the timing could have been a little better-- just because there are 1 million things going on right now, and i don't ever have time to call back my well-wishing friends or even family. give me a month, and we'll talk.

but, i am totally on board with your experiement, and i'll share the story that got me onto online dating, and hence, engaged to my online lovah-- my friend kristy convinced me to try it, b/c she met her boyfriend (well, now they're married, so...) through someone she met online. they guy she met online became a friend, who introduced her to dave.

it's just a good way to widen your social circle. and yes, you have to put up with the crazies. but i support this decision, and think it's a wise one.

obviously, i support online dating.

heh heh.

--susanne

Kathryn Thomas said...

ha. yeah. i had a friend who spent an hour and a half filling out an eharmony profile, repeatedly asking the rest of the us at the dinner party if he was this or that. at the end of the thing, a page pops up and says that he's of the very small percentage of users that are completely incompatible, and they regret that they cannot help.

it was awesome.

anyway, good luck. hope it's interesting.