In 2005, Cheryl was at her wit’s end. She was 24 and had just graduated from nursing school. She’d dated some guys, and had been fairly serious about one in fact. But in the end it just hadn’t worked out. She worked 60 hours or more a week, often 3rd shift and weekends. Meeting people was beyond difficult… it was impossible. Two years later she’s due to be married at the end of the month. So where did she meet Mr. Right?
The answer is that she didn’t meet him… at least not initially. Cheryl subscribed to one of the popular online dating services and posted her profile. “I admit it, I was embarassed,” Cheryl admitted. “I didn’t tell anyone… not even my family. I still don’t think my father knows!” After a couple weeks she started getting some inquiries, and before long she was chatting online with a potential date. They joked, they planned, they got to know each other… and they still hadn’t even spoken on the phone.
“It was great!” Cheryl said. “There’s something anonymous about being behind a keyboard. You can type things you might not say at first. You can consider your response, not worry about your body language, and just get to know someone.” Cheryl spent 3 weeks chatting on and off with her potential date before they finally met for breakfast one morning after her shift. All that “getting to know you” phase was over. It was like they had known each other for weeks already. And from that point forward they were inseperable.
Now they are due to be married. Cheryl’s fiance Dave admitted that he told his friends about the online date, and they had given him a lot of grief. “They really let me have it,” he said ruefully. “But what the heck… it worked for me.” As for Cheryl, will she tell her family eventually? “Maybe,” she shrugged. “But not until after the wedding!”
Tags:Internet dating services, Online Dating, social stigmatism
