When I was first divorced, my LSE buddy came over and asked me if I was dating yet. I told him I was just trying to get some steady ground under my feet, but I guessed that I should be dating. I told him that the bar scene was not appealing and my social life after years of marriage was zilch. I'd looked at some dating sites, but I wasn't ready to put myself out there as a profile just yet.
He laughed and asked me which dating services I'd considered?
I told him that I'd heard of OK Cupid, Match, and E Harmony, but I didn't know anything about them.
"Then you should check out the competition. Do you have a computer? Let's look at some dating sites."
I turned on the computer and he started typing away gleefully.
"Here's Craig's List. Check out the classified."
"There's a Craig's List classified section for dating?"
"Absolutely. Take a look."
Under the "Women Seeking Men" category were page after page of high school dropouts and women who looked like they'd had their pictures taken by a drunken monkey just after getting out of bed in the morning after a very hard night. Possibly spent with the drunken monkey.
"What the hell?", I said. My buddy laughed. He'd obviously seen this before.
"Now look at your competition", he said. "Look at the section "Men Seeking Women".
I did, and it was a revelation. Again, the guys looked like derelicts. Wasted derelicts. They were posing next to their Trans Ams and Harleys or with a cigarette and a beer in their hands, as if to say, "All this could be yours, babe."
I also discovered that Craigs List doesn't censor pictures, and some of the guys took advantage of that by showing off everything they've got.
I looked at Don. He was laughing. I said, "OK, I've seen enough. That shouldn't be hard to beat."
"No, no, you have to check out the "Men Seeking Men" section."
I thought about that for a half second, said "No, I don't", and turned off the computer.
Don had his entertainment for the day, and I learned something valuable. Not everyone has the same expectations as I do.