Consider. The world’s population depends on an inbuilt desire among men and women to get together. Take it no further than that. Forget lerve and what sperm and eggs do. If togetherness doesn’t happen, nothing happens.
Getting together is quite hard. Often the couple might have been unaware of each other. How to break into that “other” world? Handled clumsily it may seem like intrusion, even an assault. Handled too slickly and those very skills may repel the other party.
Computer dating helps eliminate some awkwardness in that first meeting. The other party, alone, gets to assess us from a written description. This may or may not be true but then such uncertainty will always exist between a man and a woman trying to understand each other.
There are also photographs. Romantics like to say appearance isn’t everything but – alas – we all suffer from prejudices and misunderstandings. If what we see doesn’t fit our preferences the physical meeting may be uphill work.
Nothing is predictable. People with shared interests may hate each other. Those theoretically at daggers-drawn may shelve their differences. We are all individuals which means we differ.
Computer dating allows us to arrive prepared. But not too well prepared, one hopes. No monologues with brief pauses for breath. No over-contrived jokes. Unpredictability is just that, of itself it’s neither good nor bad.
If La merely scratched the surface where might I go next time? An articulate person overtaken by a fit of sneezing? Two gays, neither outed? Computer dating couples on adjacent tables.
Play safe. Fuel injection deserves a go.
Nice. Oh gee, go to all those places next time.
ReplyDeleteColette: All very well but writing short stories is somewhat more enervating than tearing individual sheets from a toilet roll. Yes, at 88, I can still be witty but mainly with the shorter stuff. Warning: check the definition of "enervating"; it isn't what it sounds like.
ReplyDelete"Computer dating allows us to arrive prepared." You think so ? Have you tried it?! I haven't but know those who have and it seems a treacherous business; old photos, lies printed as fact and so forth.
ReplyDeleteGarden: I take it you've not read my short story (based on computer dating). I haven't tried computer dating myself but I have read regular features in Saturday's Guardian based on this subject and these seem to consist of quite civilised exchanges. For obvious reasons I didn't copy The Guardian system, I invented my own. Clearly there are systems that are are scams, even criminal. But other systems, often carrying hefty charges, seem to work. In my story one of the characters says she did receive communications that were full of lies. But what else is new? If we use the traditional system of dating there's no guarantee we won't be lied to.
ReplyDelete