Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Poor Syntax Turns Me Off

OK. So online dating. What do you think about it?

I'll admit that I have been pretty anti. I probably shouldn't be, because I know a ton of people that have found THE ONE using it. But I don't know. I'm hesitant. Every time I dip my toe in the online dating pool I get some freak-o that wants to smell my feet.

Maybe it's just me, but I've never really met any quality people online. Of course, I've never been willing to pay so it's just been all of the other cheap weirdos and me out there. So it's probably no surprise that the quality has been ... er ... low.

I've always sort of thought that online dating would be the place I'd land when I had exhausted all of my other options and was too emotionally worn out to do anything other than swap mindless small talk via email. When I was ready to settle for settling I figured I'd see what was up in the Online Dating world.

And while I'm not quite at the end of my dating rope, lately I'm warming to this philosophy:

Doesn't that sound great!?

So the other night I dialed up a singles website and set up a profile to check it out a little more seriously. I've got the watered-down free version at this point and can't use some of the features like getting messages.

So far, so good. I'm getting a fair amount of traffic (they like me, they really like me!) And there are THREE messages in my inbox waiting for me to subscribe before I can read them. I'm a little bit tempted to sign up and see what they say. They will likely be lame messages, like "cool profile." But see, these website people are smart about getting me to subscribe. They, like GI Joe, know that knowing is half the battle. And since I don't know, I'm losing the battle and will probably end up subscribing because I'm just TOO DAMN CURIOUS! (See! I'm already bitter just anticipating the bitterness I'm bound to feel.)

So what do you guys think? Is online dating worth it? Have you had success? What makes it really work out well? Am I going to have to have a more lenient policy regarding basic grammar and spelling errors? Cuz that might be a problem. (I mean most browsers HIGHLIGHT any misspelled words. Is it too much to ask you to right-click and pick the correct spelling?!? If it is, then I certainly can't expect you to put forth the amount of effort required to honor and cherish me as I deserve, can I?)

Basically, it's either online dating or I just continue picking up guys at bars and making out with them. Honestly, either one works for me.

10 comments:

Leslie said...

ooo, making out. that does sound fun. i think you should go for it, subscribe and read your mail. you'd always regret NOT checking it, i think. good luck!

Mrs. Hass-Bark said...

I agree. You can always cancel if they're super lame.

Camie said...

I say DO IT! even at the risk of losing my partner in crime. I would sign up, but I'm afraid my schoolwork would suffer and it's already suffering enough without adding online dating or dating in general to the mix. But come next May, I'M ON IT! I hope Mr. Right will wait around until then.

Plus I think it's possible for you to work the online dating and continue to pick up guys at bars to makeout with.....

Brent said...

ldslinkup.com is a good, free site.

Online dating is pretty much like picking people up at bars. Minimal effort is involved. Give it a shot.

Ruth said...

I'm all for it. I know several people who have had a ton of success. Of course you'll have to weed through the weirdos but there are a lot of normal people out there who are looking for someone too!

Daniel said...

My thots...
i think that you shuld try dating online because you never now how you might meet when you put yourself out there. not to mention, dating is so much easier for girls cus they shouldn't ever be expected to pay. It'is a free dinner for you. YOu could have fun, but if it suks, jsut say so and move on. Girls are always so worried about hurting guys feeling. when will you all realeyes that we rarely actually feelings and if you did have a suky time, just say so so that the guy doesnot have to waist time thinking about how to approach you next time. It's so much esier than girls think.
nxt. you should liten up on the grammer/spelling thing. that's the soal reason wy it never would have wurked out for us. and now, this ship has saled.

Gretchen said...

@Daniel: WOWEE!! I've never been so bowled over by such amazingly HOT bad spelling! My eyes and my heart are burning! If I'd only known in time that my english hang-ups were what was standing in the way ... well, I can only imagine. Let this be a lesson to me to mend my ways before any other good fish get away!

@everyone else: Thanks! I'm gonna do it. We'll see if the doofus factor goes down any. Fingers crossed!

Salt H2O said...

After 3 of my friends who were brilliant smart successful women met their husbands on ldslinkup- i had to give it a shot.

I dated EVERYONE that year- mostly so that if I died I'd be able to go before the judgement seat and say, "look Lord, I tried EVERYTHING".

Internet dating is an adventure, I had some of the strangest things happen to me. The strangest of all was meeting my husband. I had started using linkup for sheer entertainment value and then I stumbled upon Brent.

soundofstilhed said...

Am I too late to sway you not to pay for this?

My reasons not to waste your time: You know the first message is going to be a welcome message from the site. The other two are bound to be the two goofballs who never log off and are trying to snag you before anyone else can. These sites are huge time-sucks! You'll never blog about having finished an incredible book again!

Okay, now the pros: You can expect some awesome stories as fodder for blogging and lots of people find real happiness online.

Best of luck!

Julie said...

Can you do both? :) I say go for it!