Thank You for the Warning

I've been trying an online dating site. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And I might meet a woman who just has that quality that makes your heart skip a beat when you catch sight of her. I miss that feeling. But that really is a fabled oasis in a cyber-desert, so far.

Mind you, I'm sure I'm a big bucket of flea-infested sand for many women. Sure, I'm uncommonly dashing, witty, and smart--and own my own tuxedo, I'll have you know--but I understand that many women won't like any of that. That's just the way the dating world is. Unless you just don't care who you date, you won't find many you really want to date.

And at my age, the risk of baggage is a lot higher than it was when I was in college. I like to think I can stow mine in the overhead compartment, but I realize plenty of people have enough to spend six weeks in Turkey without doing laundry. Life will do that to you.

I've learned not to take a lack of response personally. And I used to make sure I at least said "no thanks" if someone expressed interest in me. I wanted to be polite. But I quickly got the message that silence is the way the vast majority of people online handle those they are uninterested in. And it is more effective and less time consuming. I still can't believe one reply I made to be polite that was followed weeks later by an email wondering why I hadn't contacted her again since we seemed to have made a "connection." Ruh roh. Back slowly away from the keyboard.

And then today I had a really good dating danger strobe light from a woman who had emailed me 22 hours previously. I had read her email. I looked at her profile. She wasn't quite my type, but the main issue for me was distance. After decades of long work commutes, the prospect of commuting to a casual date is not appealing to me. So I wanted to ponder her interest and mine. Mind you, I'd recently had the same issue with another woman and did decide to respond to her.

Then, the most recent woman sent me another email--only 21 hours after her first email--that was quite irate that I hadn't responded with at least a "no thank you" and ended with a hostile "go green" in all caps. Clearly a Michigan State University fan unable to really handle a mixed dating situation, I'd say.

But she got angry with me that fast? Really? I don't get even a day to ponder? Really?

I briefly wondered if I should politely respond and tell her she might want to be a tad less sensitive and maybe watch the calendar rather than the clock. But that would be a pointless waste of my time. Life is too short.

Oh, and that other woman I emailed? A week later and I haven't heard anything. Am I hopping mad? Get real. I have no idea why she didn't respond. I have no idea if I'd even really like her. I just have no interest in looking for insult or disrespect, or whatever else you can find online.

On the bright side, that second email sure made my pondering easy to conclude. It's possible she might be leading a team of Sherpas carrying all her stuff.

And I did get a blog post out of it. So I've got that going for me.

UPDATE: Thanks to Stones Cry Out for the link. Sorry if this hit a sore spot, Mark. Considering this isn't related to international or even domestic politics, I'm surprised it got a mention.