As someone recently thrust, kicking if not screaming, into the ranks of relationship-challenged singles, the subject of dating is timely for me. Having never actively dated in Memphis, where I now live, I find myself on its mean streets of social intercourse.
Actually, I met my recent ex six years ago on a plane traveling from Las Vegas to Memphis where she lived and where I had a short layover on the way to my final destination of New Orleans. We dated long distance for about a year and a half until I finally bit the bullet and moved here to be with her. Suffice to say, when the end came I found myself at first truly uninterested in dating anyone, for any reason, I was that devastated. But, since I’m a healthy, heterosexual male my “natural” instincts began to reassert themselves (thank God) and I suddenly found myself in dire need of female companionship. Thus, my Memphis quest began.
Lest you think my needs were strictly physical, I was actually looking to meet someone because I was lonely for the nurturing attention and consideration I missed that only a genuinely caring and nice woman can provide. Ah ... but where to find such a creature? Therein, lies the rub, as dear old Willy Shakespeare had once famously written. Where was one to look for said companionship? Not at work ... I work for a mobile software development company from the solitude of my own home. Besides, it’s always dicey and potentially litigious to date someone with whom you work. Anyway, I spend more face time with my computer and telephone than any three telecommunications CEOs. So … nothing there.
Hmmmm ... one might say, based on my technical background and expertise, that perhaps I should patronize one of the many online relationship-oriented websites like Match.com, Yahoo Singles, Chemistry.com, eHarmony, PerfectMatch.com (Hah!), Lavalife, and my favorite ironically named online dating service—PlentyofFish.com. Been there ... done that ... refused to buy the damn t-shirt. A note: the only thing of value offered by PlentyofFish was its price—free! Which only suggested to me that the 1 million (give or take) purported members of the big Fish were doubtless déclassé cheapskates, further suggesting that the membership probably consisted mostly of men trying to get lucky on the cheap.
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