Tuesday, April 10, 2007

200th Post - It's a milestone!

I read this article on CNN.com while I was sitting in my cubicle eating my lunch today. Delicious Wendy's grilled chicken sandwich, a baked potato and a Diet Coke does the trick and fills the belly.

The article is about dating in the tech-savvy age. The age where you can "Google" your date, look them up on Facebook and/or MySpace and conduct online background checks.

It got me thinking...does all this information at your fingertips take away some of the fun of dating? Does it ruin the mystery that is so much a part of the process when you can learn about someone with a few mouse clicks? Would you sit across the table, nodding your head and feigning interest while the other person tells you things about him/herself...things that you already know?

I'll admit it, I have "Googled" a date.

I did something that I swore I would never do. About two years ago, I gave my number to someone I met at a bar...and then made a date to go out with him.

Just saying this makes me feel skeevy.

I'm sure this way of meeting and dating is fine for some people, and I am sure people can share with me their "happily ever after" endings of relationships started in bars...but it's just not for me. No offense intended...hopefully, none taken.

Anyway, I made a date with this dude, we went out, had a great time. We set another date. I "Googled" the fellow before the next date...and low and behold...he was married. "Was" in the past tense now...but in the oh-so-present tense then.

When I asked him about it, he came up with this long and drawn out (though major props for imagination) story. He tried to tell me that he wasn't married now but yes, he had been married to his friend who wanted to get the money out of her trust fund...and he wanted a green card (he was from Canada)...so they got hitched! Simple enough...

Whatever. Long story short, I didn't go out with him again. Google saved me from dating scum. :)


So, this begs the question...have you done it? Have you "Googled" a date?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I once Googled a gal I was interested in way back when most people still used Alta Vista (1998?) (way before I was married). I found some postings to a newsgroup for some obscure band. It kinda made me more interested and gave me more questions to ask.

Then the flip side is, having this blog, you get to have some control over what potential suitors might find in Google.

Slave to the dogs said...

I've been married since the Google phenomenon exploded. But I have to admit that if I were dating now, yeah, I would most certainly Google those fellas.

What really cracks me up is people posting stuff on their MySpace/Facebook pages that gets them in trouble at work. The web is public domain - if you don't want that info to go around, keep yourself anonymous, for heaven's sake!

And yes, my real name IS Slave. ;)

Sarah said...

It is crazy that people still get into trouble with work for things they say on their webpages! Let's learn from other people's past mistakes!

Chris said...

Totally! I wouldn't go out with anyone that can't be googled. I wrote a post about it recently too. http://pursuitofstrange.blogspot.com/2007/02/references-available-upon-request.html

Even googled you!