Your friend has decided that you need help with your social life so she sets you up with a blind date….a friend of hers/his or within her/his circle of friends. You, foolishly, accept. Now there you are. It’s less than one hour since you were introduced. You are sitting in a Chinese restaurant and you hate Chinese food. The entrée has not yet been served. His idea of enlightened conversation is who will be in the final four…you aren’t into sports. He knows the weekly TV schedule verbatim….you haven’t sat through a movie in months because you run marathons and volunteer at the local food bank. He says, “Volunteering is a waste of time because you can’t help ‘those people’ anyway.” You look at your watch; see that it’s only been 10 minutes since you last looked at it the last time and wonder how long it is before you can gracefully remove yourself from the situation. Been there?

Now imagine a date with someone you met through internet dating and have been chatting online with and exchanging emails with for quite some time. First, you don’t need to be introduced. You already know this man. You are sitting in an Italian restaurant enjoying a delightful meal because you both know that the other’s favorite is Italian. The conversation flows easily as you discuss common interests. He runs marathons and loves history just like you do. You happily discuss the volunteer work that each of you is involved in. You look at your watch and discover that it is late…very late…where has the time gone.

There is a big difference between a well-intentioned friend “setting you up” and choosing a man for yourself who shares your interests and tastes. Now which one would you rather have?


Livingston Obasi blogs about Relationships and Dating at www.naijadatingservices.freegamescentre.com. Visit the blog and subscribe for updates on dating and relationship.

haroldpatt:

Your friend has decided that you need help with your social life so she sets you up with a blind date….a friend of  hers/his or within her/his circle of friends.  You, foolishly, accept.  Now there you are. It’s less than one hour since you were introduced.  You are sitting in a Chinese restaurant and you hate Chinese food.  The entrée has not yet been served.  His idea of enlightened conversation is who will be in the final four…you aren’t into sports. He knows the weekly TV schedule verbatim….you haven’t sat through a movie in months because you run marathons and volunteer at the local food bank. He says, “Volunteering is a waste of time because you can’t help ‘those people’ anyway.” You look at your watch; see that it’s only been 10 minutes since you last looked at it the last time and wonder how long it is before you can gracefully remove yourself from the situation.  Been there?   

Now imagine a date with someone you met through internet dating and have been chatting online with and exchanging emails with for quite some time. First, you don’t need to be introduced.  You already know this man.  You are sitting in an Italian restaurant enjoying a delightful meal because you both know that the other’s favorite is Italian. The conversation flows easily as you discuss common interests.  He runs marathons and loves history just like you do. You happily discuss the volunteer work that each of you is involved in. You look at your watch and discover that it is late…very late…where has the time gone.

There is a big difference between a well-intentioned friend “setting you up” and choosing a man for yourself who shares your interests and tastes.  Now which one would you rather have? 

i really enjoy what you wrote as it made plenty of sense really BUT you forgot very important parts about internet dating. when you finally meet for the first time:
- the person doesnt remotely look like the photo he/she sent you.
- the person is/looks much older than the age they claim to be.
- the person is not as "cheerful" "happy" "sociable" or whatever they pretend to be on the internet.
- the person is not as open as when chatting on the internet.
- the person dont seem to be the same as the one who was chatting online.


the reason being that most people are very comfortable chatting to a screen but when they come to face/face encounter they do not have the same "balls" to be themselves. if a person tell you to go to hell online, you wouldnt care as much because you havent truly met them than if she was sitting right next to you. thats why people in real life are more careful about what come out their damn mouth let alone what they are doing.

in my world both blind dating/online dating are the same(almost). life is about knowing what you want and being honest about what you desire. if i was in a blind date with someone that was completely not who i am attracted to |(physically/emotionally) then i would excuse myself and explain to that person that due to the circumstances, i dont think there is any reason to continue this awkward meeting as we are clearly NOT compatible. pay the bill, wish them a happy life and run from there!
only an idiot would stay in such an horrid moment. the minute you feel it aint IT then bounce out. there is nowhere in the "blind date" rules that says that a person should stay through the dinner (torture).

Hi,

Thanks for your comments. I must say it made very good sense. I appreciate it.