I have a friend, let’s
call her Ann, who is looking for a man.
Not just any man of course, an individual between the ages of 25 and
35. Additional requirements are that he
should be reasonably good looking, of sound mind and body, have a job, and be good
natured. In other words, a nice guy.
I have another friend,
let’s call him John, who is looking for a girl.
Not just any girl of course, a creature between the ages of 25 and
35. Additional requirements are that she
should be reasonably good looking, of sound mind and body, have a job, and be
good natured. In other words, a nice
girl.
Their friends told them not
to worry, that there’s plenty of fish in the sea, so when Ann and John went
fishing, they insured they had good bait.
They created a profile listing all their qualities and uploaded a flattering picture for good measure. They tried Lavalife ($18 p/m), then eHarmony
($55 p/m) and eventually Match ($35 p/m).
Their profiles received hits, but neither Anne nor John were impressed
with the “fish” they attracted.
Some were from men and
women living thousands of miles away. Some
from people who didn’t fit the age group.
Some were just not appealing for one reason or another, while some were
of candidates in various states of undress.
Where they looking for a date or a client?
Tired of online dating
they decided to explore another avenue to love, contacting a dating
agency. After some research they decided
upon LifeMates.
An appointment was made
and Ann received an invitation to meet with Carla (not here real name), one of the LifeMates
representatives.
After a short interview,
Ann was given a questionnaire to create a profile. The document roughly counted 100 questions,
asking anything from Ann’s name and contact details to the size of her
underwear and what brand she preferred (Fruit of the Loom or La Perla).
Ann battled through the
questions, felt quite exhausted by the time she reached #100, but saw it
through because she desperately wanted to meet the man of her dreams.
With the questionnaire completed,
she met once again with Carla, who briefly perused the
answers to the questions and deemed Ann a suitable addition to the agency.
“How long before I can
meet candidates?” Ann asked.
“Just as soon as you
hand over your credit card and pay the fee,” Carla replied.
Ann nodded, of course,
there would be a fee, nobody works for nothing.
“How much?” she asked.
“Our services our rather
pricey?” Carla thinly smiled.
Ann took a deep breath
and asked somewhat hesitant, “A few hundred?”
Carla bobbed her head
from side to side. “More like a few
thousand.”
A few thousand! Dollars?
The way Carla explained
it, the price went up depending on how many candidates Ann wanted to meet. For $2,000 she would be introduced to two or
three candidates. If she was willing to
pay more, she would be presented with additional candidates.
Ann kept her credit card
in her purse and walked out. She was
upset to say the least. Not only was she
not prepared to fork over a few thousand dollars to meet a man, she had just
wasted the better part of the afternoon.
On her way home, Ann
stopped by the drugstore to pick up a new lipstick and while waiting at the
till she saw a man (John) browsing through a magazine, pausing at the article “Where
to meet women”.
If Ann had been braver
she would have tapped John on the shoulder and said “Hello-o, I’m right here”. If John had turned around he would have
falling hook, line and sinker for Ann.
Instead, John put the
magazine down, paid for his shaving gel, left the store and turned right. Ann paid for her lipstick, left the store and
turned left.
Do singles need dating
websites and dating agencies? Whatever
happened to just approaching a man or a woman and starting a conversation? There is the chance that a woman is not
interested, gives a man the brush off and says “No”. Then again, she might say “Yes”, and all it
costs them is a cup of coffee, a glass of juice or a smile and that costs nothing
at all.
Whatever happened to, if
at first you don’t succeed, try and try again?
