A reader writes:
Ha! I read your post while sitting in a John Deere 4440 tractor, waiting for a truck driver to pull into the field so I can load him with corn. Having recently split with my extremely cool poet GF who lives in a loft studio three hours away in the Twin Cities, I admit to having considered the “rural singles” type website. It’s a little hard to explain to a woman why I have no time for anything but harvest, or planting, or why I now have a whole bunch of free time since it rained, when I previously said there was no way I was available for that thing she wanted to do.
I think I’ll take my chances on another city woman. It might be easier to find her with a Dishhead Match service. Put me down for a smart, literate, open-minded woman 40-60. Tattooed and/or pierced and willingness to drive on muddy roads would be a bonus. I can offer grass-fed beef and all the locally grown vegetables she can eat.
Accepting profiles here. Another reader quotes me:
“What’s missing [from dating sites]? One word: serendipity.” This is a common refrain among people of (ahem) a certain generation. Its only flaw is that it’s dead wrong.
Serendipity will always be at the heart of falling in love. All online dating does is compress the time scale so that there are shorter gaps between opportunities for serendipity.
I am a recent entrant into the online dating world. I met a wonderful person not long ago with whom I’ve found some unexpected and profound spiritual/emotional connections. None of the salient aspects of ourselves showed up in our respective profiles or in the algorithm that introduced us. And, prior to meeting this person, I’d been on plenty of dates with people who I guessed going in would be better matches. What was missing in those instances? One word: Serendipity!
Another is on the same page:
I adore you and your blog, but this bit: “What’s missing? One word: serendipity. Which is how I met my husband. I have to say it has a charm all its own – but it’s sooo retro.” is more than a little self-congratulatory.
Online dating is no more and no less than a way to meet people – just like bars, college, work, church, and every other way people have met their mates throughout the course of human existence. I would think that you of all people would recognize that it’s possible for serendipity to exist online – isn’t that pretty much your business model?
I tried both Match and EHarmony off and on for five years. Believe me, I exhausted the friends/family/church/school connections years ago; if anyone who knew me knew of a marginally appropriate mate, we were introduced. I’d join a site for six months, get frustrated, quit, then a year later realize I was still looking and join up again. About a year ago I got back on Match and a few months later met someone who is so freaking perfect for me that I can only call it a miracle. (We’ve also used the word serendipity, thank you very much.) And this wonderful man, my favorite person on the planet, proposed on Saturday. Yay!
The Dish 