by Ethan Cary

Created on: December 21, 2009   Last Updated: December 22, 2009

Ben never should have listened to his friend Bill.  Bill had met several nice women on-line and Bill suggested that Ben try it.  He even showed Ben some photos of some women, and they all looked good.  “Look at this girl – she looks like Pamela Anderson and she’s a lawyer” Bill said, and Ben fell for it.  Bill helped Ben get a cool screen name,  and Ben was off and dating.  Ben should have read “Internet Dating for Dummies” or “The Idiot’s Guide to Internet Dating” before he started, but none of those books could have ever prepared him for what was about to occur.

Ben talked to Jennifer on-line for several days.  He thought it would be nice to meet her for dinner at a nice restaurant.  What a mistake!  From the moment Jennifer walked up to the restaurant bar, Ben wished it wasn’t her, but it was.  Ben isn’t a superficial person, but Jennifer looked 10 years older and 20 pounds heavier than her photo.  Later, he found out that the picture Jennifer sent him was 15 years old!   Jennifer really wasn’t a bad person, but he didn’t like the fact that she lied about herself.  This error established rule one of online dating:  Never believe in a single photo!  Ben learned to look for several pictures taken at different times, in different events, and at different locations.  Women who have dated on-line told Ben that any man who doesn’t show his body is fat, and any man who wears a hat is bald.  On this occasion, Ben learned the hard way about believing in the accuracy of a single photo.

The next 3 hours were excruciating for Ben.   He made small talk.  She made small talk.  All he could think about was working out, watching the game, or doing a million things other than sitting awkwardly in the restaurant.  Here, Ben learned rule two of online dating:  When meeting for the first time, only meet for coffee!  If Ben was unimpressed, he would know that within a few minutes.  If he liked the woman, they could get together again, but Ben would never waste 3 hours of his life again in a dead end situation.

Aubrey met Ben, but not before he asked for 43 photos.  She did look like her photo when he met her at the coffee shop.  But Aubrey had baggage.  Now, baggage isn’t defined as kids or an intrusive ex-husband.    ‘Baggage’

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