money under the mattress

According to this article, in a bad economy there's a bull market for online dating. When times are hard, people just wanna be loved, I guess.

I can understand the theory, if not the practice. Personally, I wouldn't want to date someone who was laid off and depressed. Or unemployed and broke. I'm all for the occasional night at home with a DVD and a bottle of wine, but too many of those turn into the 'we never go anywhere' discussion. Yea. I think I'll pass on that demographic.

I've had my own experiences with online dating, some more successful than others. Back in my early thirties, it was wonderful. I was young and hot. I lived in an area with a large population of eligible men. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

In my 40s, though, online dating is completely different and much more difficult, for a variety of reasons.

There are the personal realities - I'm not young anymore. I'm not skinny anymore.

And then there's the dating pool itself. I'm not in a location filled with eligible bachelors anymore. The target age group has also changed dramatically. You'd think the difference between a 40 year old man and a 50 year old man wouldn't be that drastic -- but you'd be wrong. Finding an active, healthy, normal guy who doesn't look or act like he's as old as my father is less like shooting fish in a barrel and more like throwing a rock in the ocean and hoping to land a tuna. Yea. Not gonna happen.

Online dating is not a panacea for the problem, either. It just enables both men and women to string along multiple partners while they each wait for The Perfect One to show up.

Bad economy or no, I think I'll sit out the online dating scene for the foreseeable future. I'd rather save the money, and my sanity.