Craigslist offers surprising prospects
“I have no dignity” should not be one’s first thought while clicking into the “Casual Encounters” section of Eugene’s Craigslist “personal” ads.
You shouldn’t let the flagrant sea of horny guys’ ding-dongs mar the possibility of actually finding that suitable someone.
It seems to me that this may actually be the most underutilized and underrated dating mechanism that we have at our disposal.
Think about it: If you had certain access to everyone’s personal traits, likings, maybe even goals and such, but other than that, complete anonymity — would there be any more rational system for pairing yourself with potential love buddies?
I doubt it, but in reality, Craigslist dating is not just so.
There are specific demographics that are much more involved with the whole “romance” forum on the website.
Mostly they’re just horny guys, but certain groups have it better than others.
Take “m4m” or males for males on the website: There’s usually about 20 or more postings per day, most with pictures, and a good portion don’t just seem like they’re solely into “getting down.” Straight women also seem to have a large pool to choose from, and the “creepo” ratio (insofar as I could tell) seems relatively low.
Aside from the potential success that can be had on Craigslist, there is also the potential to fail and feel like a real ass.
I consider myself a good-looking guy. I’ve been approached by completely anonymous people and been asked out, but even after posting multiple pictures, far too much personal information, and some pretty honest descriptions of the type of girl I’d be interested in — the only bites I got back were from a gay guy and a 37-year-old mother of two. Not exactly what I was looking for.
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Like-minded people rule local bars
There are many places in real life to meet women.
Coffee shops, book stores, classes and work are just a few on the endless list of places to meet the right person.
It’s very unlikely couples will have the same story of how they met.
Unfortunately for me, I just spent Saturday night in the highly unsuccessful world of the bars.
I hit downtown around 10:30 p.m. Campus bars were a tapped-out resource, seeing the same people at Taylor’s Bar & Grille and Rennie’s Landing who all eventually close out at Max’s Tavern.
Downtown was full of people I had never met before, and it seemed like it would offer better options.
I knew I made a terrible mistake within five minutes of arriving at Jameson’s Bar.
There’s no better thrill in life than a 40-year-old woman and her friends telling me how they could “ruin me”; a guy telling me to f*ck off because he thought I was hitting on his girlfriend (I was); and a dude in the bathroom telling me to “get ’em” while they’re young (I later figured out he was talking about picking up seniors in high school). The positive thing I took away from the bars was that a good majority of the people there are in the same boat; drinking excessively and hoping to strike relationship gold. It’s comforting to know you’ll be around friends at downtown bars.
Or pedophiles, creepy old women and protective boyfriends.
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Match.com: You get what you pay for
Virtual dating — it’s the way of the future. Sites such as Match.com and eHarmony are boasting to singles everywhere how today one in four people find his or her “match” online. So what better way to find my valentine than through a dating site?
I started with Match.com. It starts with a basic questionnaire regarding age, appearance, interests, lifestyle facts, values and a “get to know me” section (i.e. do you like Jon Stewart and enjoy saving animals? Now we’re getting to the deep stuff.).
You specify the looks of your “match” (no, it is not selfish of me to request he “must be” athletic and toned). And then you write a blurb about yourself and create a dating headline. Mine? “Hey there.”
After I added a picture and sent my profile in for approval, I didn’t expect much. Maybe an e-mail or two, but I wasn’t really sure how it worked.
Two days later I had 14 “winks,” 22 new interested “matches,” 7 new e-mails, and 125 profile views. Frankly, Match.com left me feeling a little violated to say the least.
The problem with the site is that except for winking, you have to subscribe to everything you do, which means you have to pay to see e-mails sent to you, and the matches are based on insignificant common interests like “you both dig dining out” (yes, me and the rest of the world).
It was also creepy how many 35-year-olds contacted me. Clearly from my picture, I am not anywhere near 30.
I can see how sites like these would take out all of the terrifying and uncomfortable aspects of getting to know someone face-to-face. But isn’t that what makes dating exciting and special? The nervous butterflies, the awkward conversation and the agonizing question of “will he or she kiss me?” Corny, yes, but the feelings are irreplaceable.
So even though I could have found my match(es), I think I’m going to pass on virtual dating for now. I’m not sure how to tell my matches I actually have a boyfriend already…
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