Thursday 30 September 2010

Online dating... the saga begins

I registered on an online dating website the other day. It's actually quite hard to come up with something about me that sounds good, not pretentious or over the top. And then asked what I'm looking for? I can tell you what I don’t want… sheesh, not easy putting it all into actual words! Lucky for me I got that fancy degree :-)

As part of my profile, I had to put in basic info about myself, generally what I look like, my interests and what I'm looking for, what I will and won't tolerate (like a married, heavy drinker from Brakpan) etc. I have discovered that since there are men involved, it doesn’t actually matter what I want. When I say I want a man who is taller than me, between the ages of 27 and 39 and living in Johannesburg, I don’t really mean a 5.5 foot, bald 50 year old guy living in Windhoek, who can’t string a sentence together!

After a few days of being registered on the site, I actually feel quite good about myself… I have quite a few fans and have received a number of messages. This all sounds fine until you look at the profiles and read the messages. Here are some perfect examples:

"hi there sexy...
Saw your profile and I think you deserve a chance to get to know me. I think we could get along well. If you are interested (which I know you will be). drop me a line, and if you sound as interesting as your profile says I might write back ;)"


… " WoW! This sounds like a damn advert, to sell one's self, but I guess I had to, since you sound so worth the effort. So, where to now? Please reply with your name and number and allow me to fulfill your most intimate wants and needs, dreams and desires. Try me... And brace yourself for the time of your life... Guaranteed!Pls reply with ur name and number as my membership will lapse within a few hours!"

"I must say you drop dead gorgeous........sorry for using a compliment that has possible been used a million times by others but as we get to know each other you will understand my uniqueness....."

But I am not perturbed… I have chatted with a couple guys (it only took me about half an hour to come up with something to say that wasn't too cheesy, over the top or lame.) and they seem ok.

So time will tell… I can guarantee though that I will be posting some of the more bizarre and "WTF??" profiles and messages I get. And naturally post about what kind of (normal) guys I end up meeting and chatting with.