"It's so much fun!"
"You'll meet so many guys!"
"Well, I know this girl who met the most amazing guy on this site. They're living together now!"
Somehow, it just didn't seem like me. I was always more of the "Oh my god ... we're both at the same party and feeling a little tipsy ... let's make out!" kind of gal. You know ... you meet a guy through a social circle somehow. You show up at the same party. You get tipsy. You start talking about socially and politically relevant things and how you just can't imagine life ever being fulfilling unless you travel every continent and live life for the moment. Things you both think the other person wants to hear. (You and I both know we'll still be on the couch watching Dancing With The Stars this time next year.) Next thing you know ... you're making out with Mr. I had a life altering experience on the beaches of Thailand and then you both proceed to stare at each other knowingly for the rest of the evening before an awkward good-bye at some local pub. We've all been there ...
Needless to say, this strategy wasn't working for me anymore. I had come to Vancouver to start a new life, so I thought ... why not try something new? At the very least, it'll be a great way to meet people. And so I dove headfirst into the online dating world. Some might say I belly flopped ... minor details.
That first message I received in my Plenty of Fish inbox was like a shot of heroin straight to the veins. "Oh my god! Someone messaged me! And he's cute! And he likes tattoos! And he watches Family Guy!" Several guys later, several messages back and forth, and then it happened. Someone asked to meet me. Now I'm a smart girl. I knew when signing up for this that at some point you have to bridge the gap from online to in person. But the thought of putting myself out there and meeting this guy face to face was nerve wrecking. I was blushing just thinking about it. What if he doesn't like me? What if he's a creep? What if it's awkward and we have nothing to say to each other? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Somehow, I talked myself into going. And he was adorable. He had the bluest eyes I had ever seen and soft lips. We talked so easily about everything and anything. Three dates later and I was drinking the POF kool-aid my friends. I was one of those girls my friends had told me about. I had met an amazing guy through an online dating site. We went to a movie and held hands. He walked me home and kissed me goodnight. It was going somewhere ... I could feel it. (Did I even know his last name at this point? I can't remember ... )
Then he disappeared! A couple of "Hey can we postpone until X day" later and he was nowhere to be seen. Poor little me ... I mean we were even facebook friends!!!!! But I would never had been "In a relationship" with him anyways ... that's gross.
I pouted for a week or so until my rational side finally came back from whatever rock it had crawled under. Did I really expect the first guy I met off an online dating site to be right for me? And what was I expecting from this whole online dating experience anyways? Was I really looking for Mr. Right? Or was I simply having fun and keeping myself in the game until Mr. Right came along? Did I even want a Mr. Right?
I've always welcomed any chance to push myself out of my comfort zone, so I decided to keep going with it and see where it would take me. A year and half later ... I've dated at least 30 different men. Some of them were engineers, some of them were coaches, some of them were entrepreneurs, and one even brought a drug dealing friend with a Louis Vuitton man purse. That one deserves it's own post. I promise I'll tell the story when I'm ready ... and then I'll go into witness protection.
Anyways, I've recounted many of my dating escapades to my friends and coworkers over the past year and I've always gotten the same comment. "You should be writing this stuff down!!!!!" So now I am! Feel free to share your horror stories ... errr I mean experiences as well!
Until next time and happy fishing ;)
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