Online Dating
I'd heard tales of people who had met their spouses in cyberspace, but I shrugged these off as urban legends. Besides, dating online seemed as appealing as kissing a floppy disk.
Then my friend Janine confided that she'd met a fabulous man via the Internet. "You should try it," she said. She was right.
A Google search turned up more online dating services than I would have imagined. I signed up with Match.com, which seemed to offer the most diverse age range and demographic mix. The site screens members' profiles, deleting e-mail addresses for anonymity.
All you need to do is answer some general questions and write a clever essay to attract men -- and "upload your photos," which nearly made me lose my nerve. I found three of my least-horrifying mug shots and clicked a few times. Three days later, 150 e-mails crowded my inbox (I would continue to receive 10-20 each week). My initial excitement waned once I realized that I had to sort through every sender's profile.
But after reading the first 30 e-mails, I became a pro. My right pinkie went directly to the delete button for all correspondence that began with, "Hey Babe, I think you're gorgeous." Ditto for those from married men, 20-somethings who "thought it would be cool to have an affair," and admitted bisexuals who were "very clean-cut, courteous, and careful."
Match.com also cross-references your profile with others that seem compatible. The site revealed a wide range of men whose profiles all sounded the same: They gave to charities, loved kids and dogs, and were looking for someone special. They were all into sports and went to Home Depot regularly. Men who said they appreciated my honesty, humor, and edginess, who keyed into a clever line and came back with an even funnier one, won out.
I ended up going out with 14 men from Match.com. For the most part, they were attractive, professional, and articulate. All but two asked if I wanted to see them again. I went on second and third dates with three of them. My favorite was Paolo, a dark and sexy 42-year-old with a great sense of humor, originally from Rome, who worked for an international marketing firm and had lived in Manhattan for two years. After we dated for six weeks, his company sent him back to Italy. But he continued to call twice a week and I started to learn some Italian.
