The Sad State of Dating in Des Moines

Tonight's post is going to be a bit of rant. For awhile, I've had a personals ad up on a dating service called Match.com, and if anything, I've discovered a few things that really make me question the $24.95 a month I pay for it. Don't get me wrong. There are some wonderful people on there, and I've made some great friends off of it. (Lauren, Anne, Ann, Angie, Jenny, Megan, Martha, Kristi, you know who you are). But I've discovered a few trends which don't speak well for some of the women I've encountered on the site: 1)Some of them are seeking relationships when they shouldn't be, or have issues that need some serious self-work and, left unresolved, are not conducive to a good relationship. I had one case where someone I'd gone out with told me that they "weren't good with relationships" and pointed out that they didn't even have a pet or a roommate (even though they were on the site and looking!). 2)Some of them play insecure head games, or are dishonest with me, even if they don't realize it or not. Witness the women on the site who "wink" at me to express interest or at least go so far as exchanging an e-mail, but then suddenly disappear for no reason that I can discern. Then there are the women who swear that they're tired of the guys they run into on the service or dating in general, but then you see them right back on the site actively looking. 3)A few of them are extremely superficial and picky. I have had several cases where someone simply stopped communicating with me after swapping pics. Add it all together, and it makes me wonder if I'm ever going to meet someone who shares some common interests and might be open to an honest relationship. At this point, something a friend once told me is coming back to me now: it's their loss, and it's all a numbers game.