Today is Valentine's Day...but we celebrated it yesterday (Sunday). It's hard to celebrate on a Monday when everyone is either at school or at work. Christy wanted to go out for a nice dinner someplace, so she picked the "Sweetheart Meal" at the Outback Steakhouse. Nothing says "Romance!" more in Texas than eating a cow with the woman you love. You get two steaks, two salads, one desert (to share, naturally), and this hideous beast of an appetizer called the "Bloomin' Onion." I never eat onion rings, so this just seemed like a waste. As I'm writing, I think it's still sitting in our refrigerator.
With Valentine's Day comes numerous stories online and on TV about "How to Find Your Soul Mate." One story that caught my attention this morning was about this new dating service which actually hires people to write for you. Yes, someone will do all the flirting and all the correspondence back and forth through email if you're too lazy (or can't write worth a damn) to do it.
This just seems so wrong. It's kind of like the Cyrano de Bergerac story. Let someone else woo the girl for you, and when he's got her, the "client" steps in and meets her for the first time. A relationship based on lies. Nice start.
I have nothing against internet dating. I've done it myself, with no success. I met my wife Christy, not through any dating site, but through "Tealit" which is a site in Taiwan where a teacher can post their resume when looking for work. Christy wanted me to be her English tutor, and that's how we met. The women that I've spent the bulk of my life with have been people I met through day-to-day living, not through any dating service. But...if it works for you...great!
So, as much as I'm against this idea of someone doing all the work for you, I still find it a little intriguing. Maybe I could do that job. I know how to write, and since I'm continuously thinking about changing careers, maybe I should look into it. Hmm...what's that website address??
With Valentine's Day comes numerous stories online and on TV about "How to Find Your Soul Mate." One story that caught my attention this morning was about this new dating service which actually hires people to write for you. Yes, someone will do all the flirting and all the correspondence back and forth through email if you're too lazy (or can't write worth a damn) to do it.
This just seems so wrong. It's kind of like the Cyrano de Bergerac story. Let someone else woo the girl for you, and when he's got her, the "client" steps in and meets her for the first time. A relationship based on lies. Nice start.
I have nothing against internet dating. I've done it myself, with no success. I met my wife Christy, not through any dating site, but through "Tealit" which is a site in Taiwan where a teacher can post their resume when looking for work. Christy wanted me to be her English tutor, and that's how we met. The women that I've spent the bulk of my life with have been people I met through day-to-day living, not through any dating service. But...if it works for you...great!
So, as much as I'm against this idea of someone doing all the work for you, I still find it a little intriguing. Maybe I could do that job. I know how to write, and since I'm continuously thinking about changing careers, maybe I should look into it. Hmm...what's that website address??
Having someone else write all those emails and sweet-nothings would take all the fun out of it for me. A person would have to be really bland and unmotivated to stoop to a surrogate doing all the work. The scenario might make a great romantic comedy however.
ReplyDeleteIn Japan on Valentine's Day, it is the woman who gives a box of chocolates to the man. The men are obligated to do absolutely nothing except to say thank you and eat the chocolate. There is another day for men to buy chocolate for the women, but I have seen it happen only on a few occasions. Most Japanese men are blase about any sort of romantic effort and the women are understandably starved for it. The dating site you wrote about would probably go over big here with the Omiai (arranged marriage), tradition as it is.
That would be an easy job, although slightly odd to write e-mails to someone you have no intention of ever meeting.
ReplyDeleteIt is worth noting that Cyrano helps Christian get Roxanne, but both Christian and Cyrano die, leaving Roxanne alone.