So as promised I'm following up with my brief stint in the online dating world. First of course come the precursor to the story. About a year and a half ago I broke up with girlfriend after being together for about 3 years. What's the natural thought after something like that and moping about? Well, it's exactly what you'd think, the rebound. You want to get out there and know that you've got something to look forward to despite how bleak things might currently look. However after 3 years of having the life sucked from me, I was a bit estranged to some friends and on top of that hadn't been out with a new girl in quite some time. So I decided I'd open all avenues available to me (why not right?) and threw up a profile on a dating site (and I also went out and did the bar scene as well of course).
I got some messages sent my way after a bit, and also spent a little time writing some profiles and sending some messages of my own. One important thing I realized quite quickly when messaging someone, is that it's not so different from picking up at a bar. You can't just go up and say "hi, some weather we've got outside", something creative goes a long way, considering you've got to compete with other emails potentially being sent. With that in mind I managed to start up a some dialogue, and spoke with some girls before yes, going out on some dates. Something important needs to be noted about online dating here; it has this aura about it where people seem to imagine some person sitting on their couch "dating" someone halfway across the world, and finding true love. Although these are things that happen, I think that "online dating" should have a more defining name such as "online meeting". Perhaps it doesn't have the same ring to it, but it's certainly more distinguishable.
After talking a bit with a girl there was always a point where you'd either stop talking or set up a meet up time. My experience was rather poor in retrospect but here's a recount:
Date #1: This is an easy one because it didn't end up being a date. She called me as I was getting to the place we were meeting for drinks to tell me she had gotten into a car accident and couldn't make it. Interesting thing to consider here. Are you skeptical or understanding? Considering my past I took the more skeptical route, we talked a bit afterward but I wasn't interested. Instead that night I called up some guys, went out to the bar and had a great time considering how poorly the night had gone, ended up with a couple phone numbers one of which led to some excellent times (another story!).
Date #2: The next girl really seemed like that "girl next door" type. She was very nice, although seemed like one of those girls who
Don't want to throw the whole story out in one shot so that's it for now. I'll have Part 2 up with the last few dates and then some closing thoughts.
