I had as date last night. Her name was Julie (not her real
name, of course!) and she found me on a free dating site, OK Cupid. It’s a
really great site that’s much more than just a dating site. Check it out if you’re
not already a member.
We went back and forth emailing for several weeks; spoke joyfully
on the phone Wednesday night for about 90 minutes, and set the date for 5:00 PM
after she finished work. I arrived about 15 minutes early and sat on a park
bench sunning myself. It was glorious! She arrived 25 minutes later.
Now have you ever been on a date and saw a person
approaching and said in your head “Oh GOD I hope that’s not them!?”
Well that describes what I was thinking. Now ladies, before
you throw your knives at me, allow me to explain.
This woman talked about how she was a marathon runner. She
had run in the NYC Marathon 4 years in a row and was registered for the next
one less than 2 months away. Her photos portrayed a woman who was in great shape,
cute, with beautiful hair and nice eyes. I run nearly every day. I AM in great
shape, and I make no excuses for desiring a woman of like-mind and body. None
whatsoever.
So imagine my surprise when along comes a woman, ohhhh let’s
say about 30-35 pounds overweight, with arms almost as large as my thighs, and
looking 10-15 years older than her online photos.
I was horrified, looked away, and the only thought in my
mind was, “run, go, leave right now and do NOT look back!”
I could not. I could not do that to another human being. My
cell phone rang just a moment later and I knew it was her. We met shortly
after, talked on a bench in the shade (for some reason she didn’t want to sit
in the sun, despite the fact that it was chilly and breezy outside) and then
walked around the park as I told her stories of my days as a musician (she
loves music and asked me to talk about my "playing days"). Strangely though she had no stories of her
own as she was “tired from working all week.”
Um, hello? I work too! And I traveled over an hour to get
there.
She walked 4 blocks.
Horrors!
The date ended shortly thereafter as it became apparent to
her that I had little to no interest.
So I ask you all, has this happened to you? Has someone
shown up who clearly was not what they portrayed themselves to be?
How did you handle it, or how would you handle it now?
Do you feel it is rude to just say “hey, y’know I don’t
wanna be rude but you don’t appear anything like what you described and I feel
cheated and abused? I think I’ll take my leave now.”
I have had quite a few dates over the years where women
misrepresented themselves in age, appearance, personality, and other areas and
I have never just walked out on them. I don’t think that I ever will, but it
has to a small degree soured my feelings on Internet Dating.
Now while writing this, a young man who is in grad school came
by to look at an empty room in my apartment. He was a pleasant guy and after a
while we started to talk about things besides the apartment, and being guys the
conversation turned to women. He told me about a date he had 2 weeks ago. He
met the woman on the Internet and, well, same story as mine; marathon runner
who shows up overweight and unattractive to him. His thoughts? “Oh crap, I do
not wanna spend 80 bucks on dinner on this fat chick.”
Well, after all he is in college.
Through the years and all of my research on dating and
relationships, I have heard this story relayed countless times from both sexes.
You know, the guy with a great head of hair and nice muscles online, who shows
up balding, overweight, and in a dirty tee shirt! Geez! So clearly this happens
to almost everyone. What I’d really like to know (especially from the women out
there) is what did you do when this happened to you? If it hasn’t happened,
what do you suppose that you would do
if this transpired in your life? And even more-so, have you ever done this
yourself, and why?
Do you feel it is rude to just walk away? I mean, after all,
if someone is putting forth an image that is untrue, isn’t that a lie, and have
they not already lost the right for respect? Is it not, in effect, an abuse of
trust?
Your thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated, by
everyone!!!
Spike
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