Online Dating?

Well, I had an interesting revelation tonight. I saw a commercial for that Christian Mingle website, and it was really kind of funny because in that moment, I realized why I am so adamantly against using a dating website.

I admit, every now and then i get a little bit lonely.  (LOL, song lyrics) and wonder where my beloved is, and I've even expressed to a few people that I wondered where God was in my relationships, just to get the question "Have you tried online dating?"

Now, I knew that, to me, using a dating website screamed desparate despite the fact that its becoming more and more common to do so.  Even then, I still couldn't shake the feeling. I've even signed up for a dating website. It was eharmony.  Honestly, I wanted the personality test, but that didn't stop me from browsing to see what was out there.

Yeah... I closed the account after I got the results of my test (and took a peek at my "matches").... and a second reason suddenly occured to me why I don't like them.  I'll just start with that second reason now.

It's like a meat market. almost a.... catolog, if you will... You fill out information about yourself, you put up your best pictures and you wait to be picked.  Disgusting.

That's to top off the 1st revelation I had.  Dating websites seem to skip the friendship and go straight to lovers. I know that people don't have to be friends first in order to care about their beloved, but I can't tell you how many people I know who consider their beloved to be their best friend. Why would a person want to skip that process which is so crucial to the development of a relationship?

Now I have to give an eighth of a credit to eharmony for the process they take people through before you can see the next bit of information.... but only that small bit of credit.. While that process had the potential to build a friendship, it's really, truly a weeding out process.

Can I live with this persons quirks? Is this persons body shapely enough to feed my lust? Everything is hanging on where this person wants to go on our first date!.

Do you get what I'm saying?   It's basically people looking for that which does not exist. The person who knows how to answer every question right.  The perfect person.  And what happens to all those people who don't measure up to whatever standard their potential lover has set for them?  Well, they either settle for less than God's best, or they end up paying for a dating service that doesn't get them anywhere.  And what about those people who did get picked?  Who somehow "measured up" to someone elses standard?  I honestly believe that one or both of them was or will be disappoined.

Maybe the next time someone asks me if I've considered online dating, I will tell them yes, and I've decided its definitely now for me.