Internet dating is dull, or is it dates in general?
As the gay scene isn’t really geared towards meeting people for anything other than a, how should I put it… “how’s your father”, I decided to register for Match.com.
During that time I’ve sent 34 winks (and received only 4), sent/received 21 seperate emails, and gone on probably 8 or 9 dates. No amount of email exchanges can prepare you for what you get when you arrive in the bar or restaurant. Two in particular stick in my mind…
Date 1: He comes mincing in, and, although cringing inside, I was extremely polite and showed an interest in everything he said. So I knew within 2 seconds it was a waste of time but had to endure dinner and drinks with the guy. And I’m not exaggerating here - he really was seriously mincing. Email sent to Match.com suggesting a “Straight acting” attribute is added to gay male profiles.
Date 2 (this was last night so still very fresh in my mind!): No mincing this time. Met in a local restaurant - one of my favourites. I turn up wearing jeans, t-shirt and trainers. He turns up in a kilt. A kilt!! Again, extremely polite, but not happy to have been presented with a kilt-wearing Englishman with all eyes on him (and therefore me) - and I generally go to this place once a week! Endured 4 hours of dinner, drinks and conversation. Whilst he was a nice enough guy, we didn’t click, and I don’t do weird fashion sense or eccentricity.
Anyway, the upshot of all this is dating is far too much like hard work. So much energy for so little. Maybe I’m giving up to early - 8 or 9 dates might not seem like a lot, but I’m certainly getting the feeling that I’m a very small fish in a very big sea. I’m officially bored of it…
