Sunday, March 3, 2013

Ok Cupid

I decided that since I actually did want to meet someone (and it's still super scary to say that), I should do the on-line dating thing, because, apparently, that's what people do nowadays. I also decided to go on to OK Cupid because, apparently, that's where everyone goes (or, at least, that's what my friends mention when they go on dates). So, I went.
It was weird. There was a woman on the front page, and she was computer generated. That was weird. Also, they wanted my email information which, I know, makes sense, but I kind of freaked out about giving out my information. I know it's ridiculous but, apparently, I don't want anyone to KNOW that I'm interested in dating (and you wonder why I'm still single....).
I think I ended up making another fake email account, came up with a username, and was on my way until...
They asked me a question.
It was innocent enough and they said they were asking it to improve my chances of finding a "match" so I went for it: "Regardless of future plans, what's more important to you right now... (and you had to agree to answer in order to find out the rest of the question)" I agreed and this is what came up:
Sex or True love?
"What?!" I asked. "I have to answer that?! That's totally unfair!"
I knew my answer wasn't sex, sorry, it just wasn't. But true love? Really? I didn't want true love. That sounded like Snow White or some fantasy. I wasn't looking for true love because it seemed really untrue. But sex? That wasn't my answer either.
"Lame," I thought, and clicked on "true love" anyway.
And then guess what they did... they asked me what answer I would accept from a match!
"Really?" I asked. "You actually want me to say that I won't accept 'sex' as an answer from a match?" And I pictured, pretty much, 90% of the guys on the site slipping away from my little match pool simply because I wouldn't accept "sex" as a match for my answer. But was I really going to accept a match whose most pressing issue right now was sex? But on the other hand, did I really want a guy who was looking for "true love"? He sounded kind of wimpy and unrealistic, like he had no experience or something. Or maybe he was just a guy who knew that girls wouldn't pick him if he said sex so he said true love just to get matches....
"I can't win!" I thought to myself. "I'm never going to meet anyone, and we're only on the first question, and it was optional."
And then I looked at the website again and I saw that computer generated lady and I thought, "Dude, this is just not for you."
But then I thought, "Dude, this is just a website. This is just a question. This is just people clicking buttons. It doesn't determine your future, it doesn't determine your date on Friday night. It's not your identity or a measure of your success or desirability. It's a flippin' website- with really bad animation to boot."
So I clicked off the website and decided to come back another day when I was feeling less desperate and more removed from the situation.

1 comment:

  1. Hey! decisions decisions... :)

    I just found a great book at work that I think is a must read for anyone getting into the shark infested, emotionally taxing, waters of okcupid..."Data, A Love Story: How I Gamed Online Dating to Meet My Match" by Amy Webb. not sure if you'd be interested, but it's an option.

    ReplyDelete