The Match Game

Tuesday March 20

I spend a little bit of time today on the "match" dating website in preparation to end my one-year experience with them, including my little "experiment" down here in Florida these last four months, which I would have to characterize as a “qualified failure.”

Maybe that’s a bit too harsh. Perhaps “another chapter in the continuing education of Bruce.” My time with Carol certainly has had its highlights, but a serious relationship between us is out of the question. I did have one face-to-face meeting with a woman from Naples, but I would say that was more of a meeting to compare notes than anything else. And I had a nice email exchange with a couple of other women down here, but they fizzled ... fell off the face of the earth is more like it.

The simple fact is that I have a rather unique situation in that I am extremely mobile, and not tied down with job, kids, or grandkids. Most people I've met have at least one of those, and the thought of living the kind of rather vagabond lifestyle that I do -- the notion of which is certainly appealing to many people on theoretical level -- is in reality simply incomprehensible to them. I’ve had no better luck “selling” it down here than I did “up there.” So the Match subscription ends April 5, and I'm just going to let it lapse. For the last two weeks of my membership, I changed my search criteria back to “Madison” with a 50-mile search radius, just for the heck of it. And guess what happened? After 24 hours, Match came up with eight matches, five of whom I had already rejected (or vice versa)! So how sad/pathetic/worthless (whatever) is that? Like my friend Amy told me, after a while, it’s kind of like monitoring the MLS real estate listings too closely. After a while, everything starts to look the same because basically, well, it is! Time to give it a rest. If I don't find any prospects, I can always come back to Match in say a year or so, and hopefully the "herd" will have replenished by then with some fresh stock. A rather coarse analogy, I'll admit, but it fits.

I’m not complaining, at least not too loudly! The whole experience was definitely worthwhile (I ended up with a good friend out of it). I found out more about myself, and certainly more about the subtleties and complexities of human nature/behavior. Certainly better (and more fun!) than a Psych 101 course.

In preparation for my cruise day tomorrow, I stop at the Walmart grocery and buy one of those Bumblebee tuna salad "lunch kits" (with crackers) for a buck. That will be my "lunch" aboard the ship, along with a granola/protein bar from the pantry (I am trying those new Nature Valley Protein Bars, and I have to say they are quite delicious. I am tempted to send them a letter or email telling them how much I like them, but I fear such action will bring an immediate halt to their production. For, as George Carlin so aptly put it, "the job of today's marketer is to find out what I like, and stop making it."

All in all, a nice pleasant day.

Expenses: groceries: $5. Total: $5.

Bruce