One Month on a Dating Site

On the spur of the moment, I signed up for one month on the well-known dating site referred to as RC. It’s about the third time in 15 years that I try online dating. I’m going to have fun reporting my experience.

My photo: I got lucky. I thought only fair to put a recent one and it turned out well. Should I meet anybody, they won’t be able to complain I don’t look like my photograph. I was fresh out of the shower, no make-up. What you see is what you get.

It never fails: the first man to reach out to me is educated, funny, bilingual and writes well. My kind of guy. Our written exchange is fun and we’re ready for the next step. This is where it never fails: I find out he is of Arab origin. It’s funny because it happened every time. The one I connect the best with turns out to be Arab (whether religious or not, it does not matter). And for personal reasons (and not mere prejudice) Arabs are an absolute NO-NO for me. So with a sigh, I turn down this cool guy. Thank you but no thank you. Not negotiable.

Another profile knocks on my door. I check him out. Some say that the only thing people look at on dating sites are the pictures. They are absolutely right. That’s what I do anyhow. If I like your picture, I will read your profile. If I don’t like your picture, your profile will seldom make me change my mind. If you don’t have a picture, you’re not even in the game.

There are a few I check out and the pictures leave me dubious but the profile is good enough i.e. well-written, not cliché, articulate and claiming an open mind. Then you write to them, and they can’t spell 2 words in a row and have nothing to say. Obviously, they had help with writing the profile… sigh.

Anyway, so here is K knocking on my door. Pics and profile? Acceptable. Culture and sense of humor? Check. Fit? Check. We exchange about 4 emails. It’s looking interesting. He offers to call me. I counter offer to call him. “No you can’t call me, I call you. If you don’t trust me then that’s that.” I almost laughed out loud. Trust you????? Based on WHAT? 4 emails and a picture of your roller skates? That’s hilarious.

I realized I was getting a Mr. Grey vibe: quality package but entitled, impatient and controlling. Well, I wouldn’t take a Mr. Grey if he was offered to me on a plate. So off K goes. But I keep chuckling every time I think about his “if you don’t trust me, forget it”.

So what else do we have… A young Frenchman clearly out for sex. I’ll pass. A youngster (10 years younger) that shows potential. Another divorced man shows potential but has not written back in a few days. The ice-breakers I sent reaped nothing so far. I get plenty of messages, but either no photo or the photo is a clear NO. The site tells me my profile has been seen by 490 people so far. Wow. That’s a lot of guys!

I’ve signed on 3 days ago. Let’s see what develops, if anything, today… to be continued.