The Dating Game

It has been over a year since I have been separated from my ex and eight months since my divorce.  I have been concentrating on this new phase of my life and on the needs of my son, who now lives with me full time.  Think of it like "The courtship of Eddie's father" (without the Asian maid.  Wow, I just dated myself with that remark.  Those under 35 are saying "The courtship of who?")

So with all of this and the business of life in general, I haven't been thinking about dating anyone.  I really don't give it much thought, but I do have to admit that I am lonely without a female presence in my life.  Just for kicks I joined a couple of "dating sites" to see what I might find there.  Since my cash flow and mind set situation isn't quite ready for the upscale of an Eharmony/Match.com site, I decided to google FREE dating sites.

I wasn't sure what I would be in for, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Yes, there were a few questionable ones, but I did find three that I decided I would frequent from time to time. 

First was Christian Mingle: www.christianmingle.com. Since I am a christian, I thought this would be a good place to start.  A safe site (I hoped) with other like minded christians looking for a soul mate (no pun intended.) I would call this site the Neiman-Marcus of free dating sites.  The woman on there seem nice enough, but one major flaw.  Not a lot of women from my area. A lot of them were from down south.  The other issue I had was that you can't email anyone you like unless you "upgrade." That costs money...so much for a "Free" dating site.  I did like the "shuttle photo" feature which allowed me to see photos of woman that I might be interested in.  They also had a "viewed me" section that allowed me to see who might be interested in my, but once again, most were down south so it did me no good.

Next I found OK Cupid (www.okcupid.com) ...cute name for a dating site. This site was the JC Penney of free dating sites.  The good thing was it did have a lot of local ladies on it.  They had a bunch of different tabs to click on to see who was out there and who you might match with.  It also had compatibility tabs with questions you could answer and see how the person you choose answered as well.  I thought this was good way to get a more meaningful match before emailing someone and not knowing what their likes and dislikes were.  The main drawback again, to email anyone you had to upgrade.  It always kills me when a sites boast that it's free only to have the next line be: "and if you upgrade you get all these features....."

And last but certainly is: Plenty of Fish (www.plentyoffish.com) This site due its simplified ease of this site, I will call this the Walmart of dating sites (there is nothing wrong with Walmart....I shop there all the time. I believe in the motto "Save money, live better.") This site is ACTUALLY free! There are bios and pictures "who viewed me" section, but unfortunately I am finding that I am seeing the same people over and over again. 
That brings me to my final point....if you want to meet a nice person, there are certain rules that I think need to be followed in order to make this happen.

1) Please be honest about yourself.  What do you like, want and are looking for.  A generic "I like men who can be themselves" isn't really telling me anything.  I would rather have you tell me what bugs you in a man. Then I will know whether to pursue you based on whether I have that qualities you desire of annoyances you despise.

2) Please post a picture.  I know it sounds shallow, but you have to at least be interested in the looks of a person before you will click onto their info and learn more.  I am bald and some woman want a man with lots of hair.  That's ok, but what would not be ok is if I posted a picture of me when I HAD hair.  Also, please make sure your picture is a recent one, not one for 10-15 years ago...again, lets play fair.

And finally (3) If you dont have a picture or any information about you on your bio page, please don't tell me you want to "get to know me" and "please email you." I have NO idea who you are.  In this day and age of internet crime I am not going to put myself out there not knowing who you are, what you look like or what your about. That is not smart.

Thank you for you attention and Happy Dating.....

Here are some classic clips from the TV show The Dating Game.  See if you recognize some of these past "bachelors."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkrY2XPF35Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALZz3vlIZiU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCH3w_LnmHE
 






















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