About 10 or 15 years ago, there used to be this huge stigma surrounding Internet dating/meeting people on the Internet. I have an aunt and uncle who used to meet "friends" via the Internet back in the day and everyone else in the family gossiped about it like it was some huge scandal and how creepy it was that they were meeting people online. It was even more creepy when they went out and met said Internet creepers in person.
Fortunately, we've come a long way, and Internet dating doesn't have that same "Oh no you don't unless you're creepy" feel to it at all. I have several friends, colleagues and family members that have met their current husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/significant other online. There are various sites that you can use, the most well-known probably being match.com and eharmony.com. I think that several years ago people thought that meeting people on the Internet meant that you were planning on doing something indecent, like swinging or cheating. Now, meeting people on the Internet is a great alternative to picking up someone in a bar (which I think is ultimately way more creepy than meeting someone online). It is really easy to set up a profile on one of these online dating sites and for me, it was actually a lot of fun to see e-mails from my potential suitors coming in.
I'll backtrack a bit here so you know where I'm coming from. Flashback to spring 2007 (day before Easter) and the conversation between my first husband and I about how we had tried to make things work, our relationship had its run, now it was done, blah blah blah. I was a bit (OK, a LOT) bitter that the entire time, he had his Cupcake on the side. I was 29 years old, newly separated, and I wanted to jump right back into the dating game. However, as I had long since outgrown the bar scene (was never into it at all, really) I knew that was not an option for me. I went online and checked out match.com and signed up for a 3 month trial. It was a lot of fun setting up my profile, answering the questions they asked and then having my sister take a profile picture of me with her dog (I then had a disclaimer that I did have a dog, but the dog in the picture was NOT my dog-sorry Schpeen). There were all types of questions, ranging from the basic eye and hair color, to the truly superficial: "How much money should your potential date/mate earn?" There were also some off-the-wall questions such as, "Do you like or hate thunderstorms?"
The only thing more fun than creating a profile was seeing the responses to my profile. I originally communicated with 3 men, all around my age (late 20s/early 30s) and went out on a date with one of the three. Of the other two, one was only interested in hearing about how good of a kisser I was and the other one got shipped off to Dubai to work on a container/cargo ship. I did end up going out on two dates with the third one, but that would deserve a whole blog to itself (carpet cleaner/Neanderthal man).
Finally near the end of May, I met Justin, who was to become my husband in about a year. We communicated via e-mails on match at first, then by phone, then on dates. We moved in together in February 2008 and got married in 2009. If I am being 100% honest, I was a bit embarrassed at first to admit that we met each other on match.com when people asked. Now I tell people with pride that I met my husband online. I must have had some bad family vibes hanging around me at first when people asked me how we met. :)
So, for any of you singletons out there, women or men, who are still looking for Mr. or Mrs. Right, or maybe if you're newly separated or divorced and want to get back on the dating horse, try one of the online dating sites. Maybe you will meet your special someone and maybe you won't, but I guarantee you'll have fun with the online dating process. You may even end up with some very special dating stories to tell like yours truly. Try it-you may or may not be disappointed. Shrug off the stigma about online dating that you may have or that others may have and take a chance. It worked out in my favor and also for several other people that I know.
Good luck!
Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours
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