Ok, so I’ve been playing around with OKCupid for the past couple of weeks, sifting through literally hundreds of profiles, trying to find someone, ANYONE, with a good head on her shoulders that I could talk to. I’m so lonely.
I actually did find a few nice ones though. Pretty, morally upright girls, one of who mentioned her distaste for OKCupid’s lewdness (she gets 20 points for that) and her love for 80s music (she gets 5000 points for that).
They were all active and visited the site on a regular basis, so I decided to send them a friendly email commending their profiles and asking them if we could be penpals or friends.
I got completely blown off by everyone. 2 weeks of obsessively checking my inbox every ten minutes to see if they responded, and… nothing.
Now before I start going off and calling them rude, icy-cold hearted spawns of Satan and earnestly hoping that they would spontaneously combust and explode into a fiery pus filled death, I’m willing to concede that all the women I contacted just lead busy lives, and may not have had time to get back to me yet.
Therein however lies the reason for why I might be royally screwed.
I’ve been thinking about this: these girls seem happy enough, living busy and productive lives, with loving families and a large circle of friends. Why would they need me then? Unless of course, they’re only interested in a sperm donor to help them make babies, in which case once the child is born they would then go back to refusing to acknowledge my existence (except for the paycheck, which they’ll happily take of course.)
But let’s pretend for the sake of argument that women are not that conniving and evil. :-D Or rather, let’s assume the women I contacted are basically good and caring folks. But the fact is, their lives are so busy they simply don’t have time to give someone like me a chance. They may check their inboxes maybe once or twice a week, meanwhile I’m checking my inbox once every ten minutes. I yearn for companionship and wubs so badly, but for them it doesn’t seem to be a priority at all. If we ever had a relationship, they could wind up being aloof and distant, meeting me only when they can fit it into their busy schedules, while for my part all I can do is cry into my pillow at night, knowing I’ll never be truly loved. Truthfully though, it would be a severely unbalanced courtship, where I would yearn for her more than she’d ever yearn for me.
It’s times like this when I really start to despise this Internet thing though. I know people would say get off of it and start putting myself out there, but it’s not really that simple.
For those who don’t know, I have a profound hearing loss in both my ears that severely crippled my ability to have a social life. As I grew up, my attempts to participate in conversations and groups almost always resulted in embarassment. I would miss key bits of phrases in a conversation, and when I would try to contribute, people would end up laughing at me because I had completely misinterpreted what they were talking about. It never failed, and it wasn’t long before my intelligence itself would be questioned too. People would just assume I was an idiot and thus unworthy of their attention. Eventually I just drifted away and no longer tried to socialize anymore. My hearing loss certainly played a large role in my becoming a loner, though I still did ok in tightly knit groups and in one-on-one situations. But whenever we went someplace noisy (which was all the time), it really crippled my ability to engage in conversations with the people I was with. Part of what makes it so hard is that when you have a hearing loss, you can’t passively listen and pick up voices easily. You have to exert a considerable amount of mental effort to follow a conversation, and after a while you can get pretty fatigued.
That’s why I gravitate to using the Internet all the time. Here, conversation is easy, and people can’t see me at first so they can’t quickly pass judgment on me because of my disability or looks. Unfortunately though, I made it my whole world, and it’s not a world I want to live in anymore. It’s all MySpace and Facebook silliness topped off with a generous load of unhinged insanity.
Statistics say most couples find each other through friends and family. All my friends though have drifted away, and I’ve been cut off from 99 percent of my family. My parents ironically enough don’t have any friends either (well at least not any with single daughters my age.)
I could go back to school, which would be the easiest way since they are popular dating mills (or to save money, I could just hang out on campus and pretend I’m a student.)
Or, I could join interest groups like a photography club, but I don’t know. Same thing with church, which I really can’t stand (specifically the local ones here). I’d go if I knew there’d be a lot of girls there, but I’d have no interest in any of the church services (except maybe the singles group.) Charity organizations might be a good idea though.
Still, this is a pretty big hole I’m in. I may have to consider the real possibility that I am never going to meet anyone, and that life will continue to conspire against me to ensure that I will always be alone. That’s one of the reasons I want to travel so much. There’s something romantic about the idea of a lost soul travelling around America, looking for the girl of his dreams. :) Someday, maybe.
In the meantime though, I’ll be checking my inbox. (checks again… still nothing, *&^%$#@!!!!)

















Awww, I don’t think you’re screwed. The right one just hasn’t come along yet ;) What about cute, single, co-workers?
My coworkers are all 80 years old. Either that or the wrong gender. Ugh.
Here’s a little tip by the way: never go into a job assuming it’s only going to be temporary. That’s what I thought when I landed this job, and I realized then that it had not a single hot babe within 100 miles. But I figured the job was only going to be temporary so I need not worry too much. Right?
8 years later, I’m still here.
My only advice would be to stay open to possibilities. And I know you said you hate to hear this but think about what you want to do and pursue it (photography class if you like taking pictures or habitat for humanity if you like to build). You are much more likely to meet someone you are interested in if you are doing activities you enjoy.
Deborah: I have an idea of what I’d like to do, but it’s going to take a lot of work (and require getting rid of my debts). I hope I can pull it off.
And what is it?
Well, I met the Venomous Hubby in a bar, so I’m probably not the best person to give dating advice. I did want to reply to this:
That might very well be the problem, but don’t take it personally. See, for years men asked “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?” and women hated it.
Now that it’s becoming more socially acceptable for a woman to put off marrying and having children is pretty much optional, they’re asking “Why buy a whole pig just to get a little sausage?”
Bada-bing.
Kate, there are times when I really love you. This isn’t one of those times.
@Deborah: Road Warrior! I want to travel to all 50, no scratch that, 49 states (I wouldn’t be caught dead in Florida.) Sort of like an blogging tour. :)
Sorry, Linc. I’ve been patiently waiting for a chance to use that one-liner since hearing it two weeks ago. Today was the day.
I thought we were talking about how you are supposed to meet the love of your life? How do you intend on doing that by driving around the country alone? Geesh… guys…
@Deborah: Don’t my odds exponentially increase the more I put myself out there? Besides, my area here has gotten pretty stale. Half the women around me are bisexual and probably learned how to pole dance before they reached kindergarten. The other half are married. Time to get away from the madness. :)
I have been where you are, and it sucks ass. But I did meet my Rupert via online personals and I don’t care who knows it. When I was building my profile for that, I spent a lot of time reading through the profiles of all the other women and the men, and it was FRIGHTENING. No wonder you can’t meet anyone. Rupert told me that out of the literally hundreds of profiles he’d read, mine was the only one remotely interesting to him, and he was just about to give up. People are stupid, superficial, not funny, and all-around tedious for the most part.
I got lucky, he found me within a week or two of when I signed up, and I didn’t ever meet anyone else or even talk to anyone else besides him.
Anyway, you know I’ve long had an idea in my head, an idea for a No-Bullcorn/No-Crazies online dating service where I personally screen out all the jerks and crazy people, just to help guys like you. Maybe I will some day. I would also have a rule that if someone contacts you, if you don’t reply back within a week or so, you get kicked off the service. Even just a “thanks but I’ve got something else going on”, that’s all we’d ask. Simple manners.
One other idea, have you tried meeting women with similar hearing problems or even full deafness? They would certainly understand what it’s like for you and would probably have a far deeper personality than most of the twits you’ll meet online. I’m sure you’ve already thought of this, duh, but hey that never stopped me before.
You’re not screwed. Don’t give up. There ARE decent, smart, grounded, caring women out there. Not easy to find, but they’re out there.
I guess I am saying that it sounds as if it will take you awhile to pay off your debt and in the meant time it is worth considering taking a photography class or a motorcycle class. If nothing else you will be doing something you enjoy. Oh and by the way chicks REALLY dig a guy on a motorcycle!
Ah man, if the profiles scared even a tough gal like Rachel then I really am screwed.
Great idea for a dating service though. If you do start a service like that, sign me up! :-D Especially for the manners rule. I mean good grief, I emailed one girl who was new in the area and suggested friendly places she could visit if she was looking for decent people to date. Not even the courtesy of a thank you. God I hate this planet.
BTW, I’m open to dating someone who also has a hearing loss, but generally I found it’s better to have someone who can offset any disability a person has rather than add to it, even if our shared disabilities can help us relate to each other better. Otherwise conversation might be a very taxing experience:
“So did you have a nice day?”
“What’d you say?”
“What?”
“WHAT?”
:-D
If it were a disability of a different nature however that might be better, ideal even. A lot of years ago, I watched a talk show where the girl lost her left arm in a car crash. She was the sweetest, most beautiful thing in creation. God, I would have searched heaven and earth just to find her and shower her with wubs. Sigh.
@Deborah: Ooooo, I have been fixing to get me a Harley.
Well check your local colleges. Here in Illinois they offer them for about twenty dollars and they supply the motorcycles. They fill up fast though so sign up VERY early. Of course for giving you this advice I expect a motorcycle ride! ;)
If I’m ever in Illinois I’ll dial you up. :-D
promises, promises…
Hi, Linc!
Over the years, I’ve met a lot of guys and went on a lot of dates. Still haven’t met the right one obviously, but I’m sure it will happen eventually. I’ve met guys both online and off, but by far, the best luck I’ve had in the dating venue has been with guys I’ve met online. People who take the time to get to know you online REALLY get to know you. You engage in real conversations – lots of them – before you ever meet in person. I feel comfortable that a guy who spends months getting to know me online is interested in the real me. And those are the guys I want to meet.
I know this online dating thing is frustrating, but I don’t think there’s a thing wrong with it. Just keep contacting the girls you find interesting. And the ones who are worth your time and effort will reply. Take your time. True love is worth every moment it takes to find.
Good luck, friend!
@Tish: I think it’s different for girls because men outnumber the women by like 1000 to 1 on the Internet, so on sheer volume alone the experience is likely to be better.
Guess I’ll just have to continue trucking on, at least until I can get out of this *&^%$ state.
Poor guy. I see nothing has changed in your life!