By Scott Juel
Let’s face it, dating in today’s
world is weird. It is such a weird thing
that it’s a sitcom staple. On the one
hand, we’ve got meeting people in real life, or “organically” as some internet
forums will tell you. On the other hand,
we have different sites and apps which allows us to match intimate details of
strangers with our own and decide if they are a right for us. Seems like it would be a great way to filter the
good, the bad, and the desperate. So what
is the best approach?
First, consider meeting people organically,
aka the old school way of meeting people.
So many ways to do it; you could meet through friends, smile at someone
pretty across the bar, or just say “hello” to a stranger to get a conversation
going. It provides a level of excitement
and challenge. It helps to foster social
skills and trust. Of course, you are
never really sure if you’ll have anything in common until the date
happens. These leads to a lot of people
going to the bathroom and never coming back.
Not to mention some of us, myself included, can be socially inept at
times. The challenge overrides the excitement
and it’s easy to get burned out.
But that’s the old way of doing
things! I’m part of the millennials. We
want new and fresh! Enter online
dating. According to the Huffington Post
(http://tinyurl.com/ocvajwa), over 40 million singles in the US have tried
online dating. Would you look at the
size of that pool? Plus, you get to
narrow your search parameters; some let you choose by education, musical
interest, even height. It’s like getting
an a la carte menu and picking out the best things for your dating basket. However, you better hope you are in a
reasonably populous area, otherwise you might be getting the dating equivalent
of pizza fries and mozzarella sticks.
So what the best way to do it
(hehe)? I suppose here is where I weigh
the pros and cons of each giving you a list to consider and make your
decision. But, in my experience, you
just have to do what’s best for you. Socially
awkward and have trouble starting conversations with strangers? Online dating is a good way to gain experience
to help get over that. Love chatting
with strangers in line at the bank or wherever? You’re probably already pretty
good at meeting people organically. Have
goals of settling down soon and starting a life with someone? Cast a wide net and do both. The point is only you really know for sure
what will work best for you. If you don’t,
then you just give something a try; experience is the best teacher after all.
Me?
I’ll be at the local coffee shop with my laptop open and my eyes at the
door looking for that special someone to come from one or the other.
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