If you've ever been to a casino, you've seen the little old ladies precariously perched on their stools. Their left hand contains a cup of coins and their right hand has a death grip on their chosen slot machine's handle. They'll sit like that for hours, hesitant to renounce their throne for fear that the next time that handle is pulled...JACKPOT! Sometimes you'll find them working two machines at once. Overachievers...or suckers? Hold that thought...
Meeting people online seems to have become standard operating procedure for this generation. Gone are the days of the glance across the coffee shop...the accidental grazing of a hand in the produce aisle. As Ames stated in an earlier post, most people our age are already married, so the prospect of being set up by friends is virtually nonexistent. The bar/club scene belongs to the hipsters in their twenties. To frequent those establishments presents us as desperate to cling to our youth - literally and/or figuratively (hashtag: Cougar). Therefore...TO THE INTERNETS!
Choosing an online dating website is the least of your worries. There truly is something for everyone. However, the extensive number of profiles from multiple dating websites - and the prodigious amount of variety that affords - seems to have produced at least one adverse consequence. Instead of meeting and getting to know more people, we seem to be interacting less. We have become, to some extent, legends in our own minds. What we have conceptualized as our ideal mate must surely be a reality, and we will not rest until we find it. We will not settle because we deserve it. Perfection. Prince Charming.
I mean, come on. We've all seen the YouTube proposals. Our prince has got to be out there, too! So, we eagerly set about finding him. We know exactly what we want...from denomination to diploma, we've got it all mapped out. We sift through profile after profile until...jackpo...oh wait. He's too short. CLICK. What about this one? Ye...no. He didn't go to college. CLICK. That one has a dirty bathroom mirror. CLICK. This one is going bald. CLICK. How can we dismiss them so quickly? Because Mr. Perfect might be just one more click away!
With remarkably little effort at all, online daters become that little old lady in the casino. We can't settle on getting ahead (meeting someone worth our time and attention) because the jackpot (that perfect image we have concocted in our minds) might be just one more pull (click) away.
I'm guilty of this...for a dozen reasons. Hairy backs...Auburn fans...doesn't know the difference between your and you're...we've all got our limits.
I don't say all of this to imply that we shouldn't have standards...expectations...deal-breakers. No one should be expected to compromise their fundamental beliefs for the sake of shedding their "single" label. If you are doing that, it is my hope that you would re-examine your motives for being in a relationship.
But...consider this: Sometimes we choose to look at minor differences as major flaws. We dismiss perfectly good people because they don't look like the ideal we've built ourselves up for. Maybe the jackpot we're holding out for isn't so elusive after all...
