Adventures in Online Dating

Hinge, OKCupid, Tinder, Match, eHarmony... and the list goes on. If you're at all like me, a single thirty-something, you've found yourself creating profile after profile on the next "it" dating site in hopes of success. And if you're like me, it hasn't gone well. I've heard too many success stories to give up on it completely, but man does it suck. Swiping through a litany of men's profiles with the classic no-smiling-holding-my-phone-from-below-selfie hoping to find at least one normal looking happy guy. Not to mention the ones who post one too many pictures of their dog (will they kick me off the couch to make room for their dog? probably). Or the oh so classic picture of the giant fish they caught. News flash, no girls cares if you fish, let alone caught anything.

Last summer, I decided to be more bold and swipe right on more men, strike up more conversations and meet more men in person. I wasn't gonna let myself play chicken any more. I found myself on dates with four different men and oh boy did I not know what I was getting into.

The first date was with a nice man but a man who's cologne I could practically taste. What I wasn't expecting was that he would be Hindu. Not that I have a problem with that, but he conveniently left if off his profile. And when I was honest about being unsure if I could date someone from another religion, he got mad because he was willing to date outside his religion. My on-the-spot honesty was clearly not appreciated. It devolved from there when I made a passing comment about not having expectations on dates in case a new friend could be made. While he stopped short of storming out, he did give me an earful about being on dating apps to date and nothing else. It seems this poor man had been friend zoned one too many times and wasn't going to stand for it. Him sulking off in the parking lot without saying goodbye wasn't the worst way to end the date, but sure left me scratching my head.

Note to self, some men won't appreciate honesty or friendship. They'd rather know on the first date if you're going to boyfriend/girlfriend right now.

Remind me again if finding true love and companionship and great sex is really worth all this trouble?

This definitely is the first of many dating adventures. Stay tuned!