If you tuned in two weeks ago, you know I’d sooner read my spam twice over than peruse yet another Match.com profile.
Better to shop online for tires instead of people, I say. Those of you who wrote mostly agreed; should I feel vindicated or sad?
Anyway, here are other thoughts about online dating, edited for space: Alan Lekan, Boulder: Online dating shortchanges the workings of something greater than us – something that brings people together for them to take it from there (no guarantees, even with serendipity, of course). Speaking of that word and concept, maybe all online daters should see that wonderful 2001 movie of the same name (with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale) as a cure for their over-self-determination and padded-resume approach – much of which is a mirror of our “make it happen … NOW!” culture.
Diane Hartman: After meeting someone on Match.com three years ago, we’re getting married next month. One of my close friends met someone two years ago and is getting married the same weekend we are.
My fiancee’s profile said nothing about intimate dinners and moonlight strolls – God, I wish people would get over that. It told me exactly what I wanted to know about his background.
Match gives you a feeling of abundance and opportunities. I hate to see you discourage people from using online dating. I suspect that short guy with the lovely woman you mentioned may not have been attracted to each other in the office, but perhaps had conversations online that led them to believe they had many things in common.
Dyan Humphries, Littleton: I tried to screen out the incompatibles with things like, “If you’re in the one percentile of men with the characteristics I’m looking for, let’s meet.” One said he definitely has at least one percentile of what I was looking for. He just didn’t get it.
I still have my profile posted “just in case.” I stopped looking at men’s profiles because it was like comparing canned goods. Plus, there’s this agenda already programmed into any meeting that adds pressure and, as you said, takes away spontaneity. Romance is stripped away, and you’ve got two strangers sizing each other up to see if they can have a future together.
Where do great people meet each other? If you figure it out, please tell me.
Sandi Pravecek, Denver: I married a man of foreign descent within three months of our meeting online. What followed turned out to be the four most stressful years of my life. We didn’t know each other, had little in common, he didn’t work, and when he did, he would get fired, smoked pot every day and revealed to me he was a convicted felon.
Online dating is too forced, too businesslike and doesn’t feel genuine; the men want to find supermodels, and the women want millionaires. I’m not giving up on companionship and love, but I sure as heck won’t try the Internet again.
A “lifestyle upgrade”: Slyly calling its contest a “makeover,” Stuff magazine will award one lucky dude $100,000 worth of, well, stuff. The goal is to help “develop confidence, identity, swagger,” says a news release.
The swagger aid includes a customized 2006 Mercury Milan, a party for 20 pals in the “NBA Suite” at the Palms Casino Resort Las Vegas, slick threads and the clincher – a one-year supply of Oral B Pulsar toothbrushes. Go to stuffmagazine.com/contests. Deadline is Oct. 31.
A Guy Thing runs every other week.
Vic Vogler can be reached at 303-820-1749 or vvogler@denverpost.com.
