Peril of the Week – No Photo, No Class

The online dating profile of a sophisticated woman simply stated, contact me if my profile piques your curiosity. The response rate was high from men curious to know more about this mysterious woman who was a bestselling author. On the list of her favorite items was the name of a well-respected magazine, Vanity Fair,  which she reads  from cover-to-cover every month to enrich her life.

Sharing hobbies and interests is an important part of your online dating profile. Favorite movies, books, travel spots, they all give an indication of what you like to do in your spare time.

You can’t imagine how stunned she was one day when she received an email from a man without a profile photo. This man decided to make it a point to insult a woman he never met.

His email simply stated  the following:

Photo: None

Subject matter:  He typed the word, “None.”

A bit confused by the introduction, the body of the email was quite insulting. It simply stated:

“Your intelligence can be determined by what you read, and it certainly can be stimulated by penetrating reading.”

“Vanity Fair is definitely not an example of profound literature, but it’s the only reading that apparently you’ve done recently and that you’re proud to share with others. I can’t imagine that your book has any depth if what you’ve been feeding your brain is essentially tabloid trivia.”

On a personal note, the woman who was the recipient of this email was none other than myself. One has to ask, what is the purpose of deliberately insulting someone they have never met? And why hide behind a profile without a photo? My mother always said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, say nothing at all.” My mother’s dating advice is smart. She’s a wise woman.

Do you have an online dating story to share? For consideration in the Peril of the Week, please send us your stories.

Click here for more Peril of the Week Stories>>>

Cyber Love Story of the Week – Sheri and Rob

Rob and Sheri met on eHarmony in January 2009. Sheri was attracted to Rob’s sense of humor and ability to be a good friend and companion. Rob was attracted to Sheri’s fun-loving nature and adventurous spirit.

The two went on their first dinner date at an Italian restaurant, complete with a round of bowling.   From then on, they were inseparable, traveling all over the country, both enjoying hiking.

On Christmas Day in 2009, Rob and Sheri took a break from the holiday festivities at her father’s house to catch some fresh air outside. As they cuddled in each other’s arms on a deck overlooking a serene snow-covered pond, Rob pulled out a small black box containing an engagement ring and asked Sheri to marry him. Surprised and excited, she happily accepted his proposal.

After sharing the news with friends and family, their thoughts turned to wedding plans. What better place to get married, Sheri thought, than where it all began? The two will be the first couple to marry at eHarmony’s headquarters on Friday, August 6, 2010.

Congratulations to Sheri and Rob, another online dating success story in our Cyber Love Story of the Week.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Read More Cyber Love Stories>>>

Peril of the Week – The Donny Downer

You may have heard the stories of the “Debbie Downer” on a date. She’s the girl that talks about all of her problems and turns guys away faster than the speed of lightning. This week, you’ll meet her counterpart, the “Donny Downer.” Our online dating story this week is about the tale of the gentleman who came completely unprepared for his date. He didn’t rehearse his conversation on the long drive to lunch.

When they sat down at the restaurant, he first complained about the calorie count of the entrees. She smiled and changed the subject. Then he complained about his bad back and asked her if she had any back problems. He went on to talk about his father’s dementia and his mother’s hospital stay. She didn’t believe in bringing her medical history to the table.

The conversation then switched to the financial and gambling problems his adult son had. She wondered why he thought she needed to know. In between the appetizer and entree, he managed to talk about his two ex-wives.

Finally, he asked her what she thought of Obama as the President of the United States and talked about how awful he was in doing his job as the leader of our country. She preferred not to talk about politics.

Here’s my dating advice for this situation.  Please leave the baggage behind. Conversations about the ex, financial, and health problems shouldn’t be on the top of your list on a first date. Keep your first date positive, upbeat and light.  He was a classic “Donny Downer.” Although he might have been a nice guy, he wasn’t about to get to a second date.

Do you have an online dating story to share? For consideration in the Peril of the Week, please send us your stories.

Click here for more Peril of the Week Stories>>>

Cyber Love Story of the Week – Vanessa and Ray

Vanessa moved from the east coast to the suburbs of Houston a few years ago.  She wanted to meet new and interesting people, but was too busy with her job at NASA and didn’t have time to enter the dating scene.

Based upon recommendations from friends, she joined the online dating site BlackPeopleMeet.com as a free member. When she saw Ray’s profile, she decided to upgrade her membership immediately to meet him.

She sent Ray, a foster parent, an email introduction. Ray responded and the communication began.

During their first lunch date, they quickly realized that they both had a lot in common. Both Vanessa and Ray had children from their previous marriages. They also both enjoyed crossword puzzles and exercising.

The two easily blended their families together and two years after their first online date, they were married.

Congratulations to Vanessa and Ray who found love online on BlackPeopleMeet.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Read More Cyber Love Stories>>>

Peril of the Week – The Movie Date

I personally believe that chivalry is alive and well. I find it quite sexy and appealing when a man opens a door, pulls out a chair, and takes care of your parking on a date.  Like it or not, it’s also usually customary for a gentleman to treat the woman on a first or second date. It doesn’t need to be extravagant, but the one who does the asking, is usually the same one who picks up the tab.

And so the story goes with the intelligent “shrink to the stars” who invited his online date to go see a movie. The two had their first date the week earlier and the conversation just flowed. It only seemed appropriate when he contacted her the following day to put a second date on the calendar. He suggested a movie and let her make the selection. The theatre was decided upon and they were scheduled to meet at 7:00pm.

As it got closer to their meeting time, the gentleman sent a text message saying that he was running late for their movie date. He requested that she pick up the tickets and she complied. When he arrived, she handed him the tickets and he made a huge mistake. He didn’t offer to pay her back for the tickets. A bit stunned, she wondered why, considering he had asked her to the movies. They met in an adjacent bar prior to showtime. When the menu arrived, he asked what she would like to drink. The woman suggested a mid-priced glass of sparkling wine.

What she didn’t expect to hear when he placed the order was the following. “We’ll have one glass of sparkling wine with two glasses.” Basically, he wanted to split one drink. There was nothing romantic about splitting a drink with someone she recently had met. He didn’t want to splurge on two drinks, nor did he want her to have a complete drink. It was a first for her, and a last date for them.

Understandably, dating can get expensive. But, first impressions mean a lot and chivalry is still alive and well. My dating advice: Gentleman, please don’t request to split a glass of any beverage on a date with someone. You’d be better off ordering water for yourself, and allowing the lady to have her very own beverage. Add that to the unreimbursed movie tickets, and it became a dating disaster.
Do you have an online dating story to share? For consideration in the Peril of the Week, please send us your stories.

Cyber Love Story of the Week – Joan and Richard

It was Love at First Sight for Joan and Richard who met on SeniorPeopleMeet.com.

The first time Joan got married was at the age of 17, shortly after she graduated high school. Widowed after 43 years of marriage, Joan decided to try looking for love online.

She was looking for a companion who treated her with respect and didn’t take life too seriously and joined a few Internet dating sites. At first, Joan was less than impressed with the online dating process.  She thought the people seemed more interested in hiding behind their profiles and e-mailing than actually meeting one another

One day, she joined SeniorPeopleMeet where she was only browsing profiles — that is, until she received an email from Richard.

Like Joan, Richard was widowed as well.  He was a retired naval captain and liked the way Joan presented herself on the website, with current pictures and “no sunglasses.”  At age 75, Richard was clearly older than 67-year-old Joan, who wasn’t sure about the age difference at first. Joan lived in northern California at the time.  After some successful phone calls, the couple met up in San Diego when Joan visited for a business convention.  Ultimately, it was Joan’s daughter who encouraged her mother to meet Richard in person by simply saying, “What have you got to lose?”

On their first lunch date, the two heard more than one comment from strangers about what a nice married couple they looked like.  One day after meeting, Joan turned to him and said,  “Is this what they mean by love at first sight?” to which Richard responded, “Yes, I think it is.”  They spent the rest of her trip together, and maintained a long-distance relationship from October 2008 onward.  In January of 2009, Richard asked Joan to marry him. She moved from Sacramento to Coronado and the two were married in February, 2010.

Congratulations to Joan and Richard who both got a new start at love on Senior People Meet.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Read More Cyber Love Stories>>>

Peril of the Week – The Concession Stand Blow Up

After years of being on and off her favorite online dating site, a young attractive woman finally found a keeper. At least that what she thought. She named her new beau, “Tech Guy.”

The two had been dating for about four months. They enjoyed romantic dinners, wonderful day-outings and Friday movie nights on the couch.  They were a true couples and things were going well.

Like many couples, they were definitely moving from the honeymoon stage into a real relationship. Tech Guy loved soccer and decided to take his date to one of the season’s big games.

When the two got to the game, they cuddled up under a blanket and cheered Tech Guy’s team on… until halftime.  At the break, she wanted a snack and some hot chocolate, so she and Tech Guy headed towards the concession stand. The line was long, and her guy was getting antsy. After 15 minutes the line was moving, but very slowly.  Her beau started to turn red with frustration. Finally a few minutes later, when they were only one person away from ordering. It went something like this…

Guy in line getting out his wallet to pay: “Oh no. We need one more hot chocolate and some nachos.”
Tech Guy: “Seriously? You just ordered and couldn’t remember that? Get the f&!% out of the way.”
Guy in line: “What?”
Tech Guy: “You had 20 minutes to figure out what you wanted to order and are now taking way too much time. Hurry up!”
Guy in line: “Dude, chill out.”

Tech Guy now went INSANE. His date had to step in to avoid a full blown fight and never got her hot chocolate. The two got thrown out of the game.  As you can imagine, the relationship didn’t work out. It was a good date, gone bad. Concession stands and soccer fans are not high on her list for future online dates.

The Peril of the Week was contributed by My Life on Match and More

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Cyber Love Story of the Week – Tara and Ryan

Tara joined the online dating site Yahoo! Personals in early 2001.  She was doing a year of graduate study in North Dakota when she met Ryan who was in law school in Houston.

Tara knew she was moving back to her home town of Houston to finish her graduate studies. She wanted to make some new friends and meet someone, so she posted an online dating ad in anticipation of her move back home.

Ryan saw her profile and answered her ad on February 8, 2001.  The two started emailing back and forth and had the occasional all night chat session getting to know one another, where they learned that they attended the same undergraduate university.

The two finally met in person two months later, when Tara flew home for the Easter holidays.  A month later she moved back to Houston and they started dating exclusively from that point on.

Two years later, on March 15, 2003, they became engaged and were married 8 months later. Two years later, their daughter was born. Tara believes that meeting online and communicating in writing for 2 months prepared them both for their marriage.    As Ryan is an Officer in the Army, he was deployed to Iraq for 14 months. Shortly after that he left to attend several Army schools. Basically he was gone from his family for almost 2 years.  Being able to communicate together through writing helped them keep their relationship alive and healthy.

After their online dating success story, Tara’s mother and brother both ventured into the cyberdating waters, where they met their spouses online as well.

Congratulations to Tara and Ryan, as well as to their family members,  who show us that Internet dating can be successful, in both love and war, regardless of the distance.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Peril of the Week – Switch and Bait

Sandra was looking for love online and after a bad experience, she learned to spend more time on the phone getting to know her date before agreeing to meet in person. The gentleman on the other end of the line sounded good enough.  He offered to meet her at a fine dining restaurant, which sounded to her better than the usual, “Let’s meet for coffee.”

But when she arrived, he said, “Oh, my goodness. It closes for lunch. But look — there’s a McDonald’s down the street.”
Sandra ordered a burger and French fries. Saying he’d had a late breakfast, he ordered a coke, but then hungrily proceeded to make her fries disappear in a private pool of ketchup.  Between morsels, he launched into a lecture on how sex was good for the complexion and circulation, and, by the way, there’s a nice motel near here and we could have a terrific afternoon improving our complexions.

She refused him politely and said goodbye forever, thinking as she got behind the wheel of her car that he probably would have used her credit card to pay for the motel.

The Peril of the Week was contributed by Howard Eisenberg and Shirley Friedenthal of itsnevertoolatetodate.com

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Cyber Love Story of the Week – Lori and Drew

Lori and Drew met on Match.com in 2003. Although Drew called her after their first date, Lori never returned his call. “He’s an old-fashioned guy looking for a woman to stay home and raise a family vs. someone focused on her career like me,” Lori reasoned.

Lori grew up in a rural town outside of Syracuse, New York, determined not to follow the same path as her mother who had given up her business career when she married Lori’s father. Instead, Lori fled to Long Island for college and spent her young adult life escaping into star-studded big city events as a public relations executive in NYC.

In 2006, at the age of 38, Lori was happy with her career but single and lonely at home. After a rejuvenating trip to Argentina that November, she decided to update her online profile with a fresh faced vacation photo. Three days later, a message from Drew appeared in her inbox.

“Lori, do you remember me?” his email said. She responded in a joking manner, “Yes, your birthday is February 5th and you give body adjustments.” They had not spoken in three years, yet she recalled the day he was born (it was also her sister’s birthday) and that he was a chiropractor, both of which were not listed in his profile.

Drew immediately asked Lori out again and this time she accepted. Lori had made some transformational decisions that past year, one of which was to “throw away her list” and be open to date people who she didn’t initially think were her type.

Nine weeks later, Drew whisked Lori away to Los Cabos, Mexico with the intention of proposing to her on Valentine’s Day. They had no idea they would be stuck on the runway for 11 hours due to weather conditions. After 36 hours of traveling and four days of no luggage, the trip ended with a beautiful, serenaded beach proposal. Being in a disastrous situation like this and still being able to laugh was enough proof that Drew was her type after all.

Lori left her career and moved out of the city. The couple had a destination wedding and renewed their vows a month later in a religious ceremony, taking place on the same day as her parent’s 40th anniversary.

The couple now lives in Brooklyn, with their two-year-old daughter, St. Bernard, Thor and a baby girl who will be joining them in July. Lori ended up following a similar path to her mother’s and she couldn’t be happier.

Congratulations to Lori and Drew our Cyber Love Story of the Week who are evidence that you can’t escape your roots or ‘type’ when it comes to love.

Do you have an online dating story to share? Please send us your submissions.

Next Page »