Online Dating

New Experience
The world of online dating was extremely new to me. It's becoming extremely popular and a respectable place to meet people, but I was skeptical. I've seen advertisements on the television for several different online sites, such as eharmony, perfect match, and match.com. Every site claimed to be the very best website to find a partner, but how can you really tell?

What I Needed
I was ready for a real relationship, not just a fling or casual dating. I needed to meet people from my own area that wanted the same type of relationship as me. I had only become recently single after a string of long relationships. The only way I had met men in the past was through an aquaintance. I needed to meet someone new who wasn't already part of my friends or family that I could begin a new life with. I'm not a bar person and I couldn't figure out where to meet people, so I thought I'd give an online dating site a try. But how do you choose the right one out of so many choices out there?

Dating Sites
I tried one dating website where it matched me with a few people from California. I live in New Jersey, so it would be a waste of time to try and form an online relationship with those men. I waited a while and then joined another site with more local people. I discovered this one by a sign on the side of the road. I tried to put in the name of the site that I saw on the sign, but I typed it in wrong and ended up finding another dating site that worked well for me. It was free with an option to get a full membership, but at the time I didn't need one. I wasn't ready to just stick with one online dating site, yet. I eventually went with singlesnet.com - the website that I accidentally put into the computer.

The First Night
The first night I went to the website I created my profile to meet people. I was mostly honest about myself and what I was looking for in the opposite sex. I added a picture of myself and my catch-phrase. To me, that was the hardest part. I had to create a one-sentence phrase that others would read to see if they wanted to see my profile. What can I say to attract others and be upfront about my self in one line? I've never been good at summarizing myself in a sentence.
Once my profile was created, I began looking at local men that somewhat fit who I was looking for. I try not to judge a book by it's cover and get to know the real person inside, but that's not really possible online. When I was searching, I saw a picture, the catch-phrase, and a few specifics such as age and location. From there I found a few men that looked interesting, and looked them up further on their profile page. A few men IM'd me while I was searching and I hit it off right away with 2 of them. I got both of their phone numbers and spoke to each of them. One man was a lot older than me, and eventually discovered that the age difference was a problem on the phone. We never spoke again after that. I talked with another man every night on the phone for about a week after that (let's call him Scott).

How It All Ended
Scott and I finally met at a public, crowded restaurant and seemed to hit it off right away. We spent every night together that weekend and began dating right away. A few months later we were engaged. A few months after that I bought a house and he moved in with me and my son. A few months after that we were married. It got rocky really fast (lies, unemployment, stolen money, jealousy, abuse) and about a year after the wedding we signed the divorce papers. So my online dating experience ended up exactly where it started - I'm single and need to go to an online dating site to find a man because I don't know how to meet them otherwise.