To Internet Date or Not to Internet Date, That is the Question

Why is it that every married or otherwise spoken for person seems to think that internet dating is the only way forward for their single friends? They may have never dallied in the world of dating sites, but for some reason the only way said singleton will ever find true love, or love of any romantic kind for that matter, is to sign up for months of awkwardness created by an endless string of meetings with unknown and (usually) overhyped persons.

Do I know plenty of normal, lovely people who have met on the web? Certainly. Do I think they're losers? Of course not. Why is it then when I puruse the world of would-be suitors that I cannot shake this feeling of disquiet? How have we all ended up here? Could we not go out to a random bar, get drunk, shamelessly flirt with a stranger, wake the next morning discovering that hey, they're not so bad and months later fall in love, marry and live happy-ish ever after? And why do I feel this aforementioned scenario is somehow more inticing then showing interest by viewing a photo, reading a self-descriptive of positive attributes and clicking an 'add to my favourites' button? If I'm to engage in this modern form a dating, it has become increasingly obvious that I will have to overcome my paranoia that each time I log onto one of these websites, somewhere in universe where these things are tracked, my loser quotient has signifcantly increased.

   

And finally, what DOES one say??? Ok, yes I will admit it.  I have created an account at one site to test the waters. Having been a passive participant since JUNE, its seem I have finally caught the attention of a mildly attractive male with a descriptive that at least did not cause my stomach to convulse. So now the ball is in my court. I guess there's only one way forward - to play.