More adventures in looking for luurve online

A major area of debate with myself in the online dating venture has been deciding whether to show or not to show the photo. I am currently fearlessly exposed, so to speak as am conducting a sort of self-experiment to gauge whether or not my success rate zooms or plummets. Prior to this, suffice to say that most of my efforts (about which I remain extremely ambivalent) had met with resounding, even deafening failure।

Well as they say it's a feast or a famine। Having bravely left my moniker displayed for all to see (hopefully not the boss or anyone else who thinks I'm much too refined for such activities), I added grist to the mill by including a couple more recent shots I had taken professionally for another purpose (seriously). These are if I may say so myself, quite flattering of yours truly. In other words the photographer (more on him in another post) had performed miracles
with, I'm assured, the assistance of only minimal air brushing ... I know, that's what they all say.

Anyway what had been a spark of interest generated by the original photo, erupted into a virtual torrent of contacts. Three days later I was still ploughing through the various entreaties attempting to make considered assessments and politely respond (as we online daters are strictly instructed to do.) Until I lost the plot after a trying day at work and in the attempt to
sort the wheat from the chaff (no offence intended ... as of course what may be chaff to me could very well be someone else's Mr Right (or Mr Weetbix as the case may be), managed to delete the lot. Oh well, there's always next weekend. It seems the weekend is the peak time
for online dating activity - whether it's the climax to a week of frustrated singledom or the home alone on Saturday night again syndrome, I don't know. But the week days in between seem much quieter by comparison. Good thing, I say, gives one time to draw breath.

On the matter of polite responses, previously referred to, the online dating agencies seem rather anal in their fixation about the need for this. To the extent the one I use provides quite a long list of standard pre-prepared one liners, from which one may choose. In their attempts however to couch rejections tactfully, most of the ones that mean "thanks but no thanks" begin with "xxx is thrilled to have received a kiss from you ... however". Now to me this is a wild assumption and a blatant fabrication. If xxx was indeed "thrilled", I doubt she'd be batting the kisser away like a pesky fly. On the contrary, on the rare occasions when a photo and/or profile or email
goes so far as to generate a thrill, one loses sleep waiting for the next exchange! So why can't they tone it down a bit, e.g. something along the lines of "xxx understands your interest and sympathises with your desperation, however you are not ringing any bells with her".
Alternatively, a polite but tactful silence would, I think, be all the message anyone of any discernment should reasonably require.

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