I laugh now when I look back on my days as a single guy, continually on the lookout for a new girl or a new date. It was an ongoing game with no end in sight as I dated one girl after another and spent meaningless hours making small talk with women who didn’t interest me in the least. But I kept playing the game. Who knows, I thought, perhaps it will be the next one. I’d been on the singles market for some time and I was feeling depressed one evening when I mentioned the subject to a friend over a drink.

“Have you tried the online dating sites,” he asked. “What!” I replied. “Look at all those fake ads and pictures of movies stars that people post?” I was horrified by the very thought. I have no problem finding a date, I assured myself. My problem is that none of them is suitable. I feel I can go on like this for years. I am hopelessly single and stuck in some rut where I will never meet the right woman. Anyway, how can online dating help me?

That evening, I went home, had dinner and sat myself down in front of the television. The thought that my friend had planted lurked at the back of my mind. Finally, I stood up and shuffled over to my computer.

Using the search engine I nervously typed in the words ‘online dating’. I clicked and opened the first site that came in the long list of results. I remember feeling almost shy at what I was doing, but I kept going and read the blurb on the site. I was asked to register and set up an account, provide details of the type of person I was looking for. I had nothing to lose at this stage and I thought the whole idea very funny. There was no request for payment. I later found out that you are only required to pay when you are ready to submit your own details. No way am I going to do that, I thought. I’ll just browse around and see what’s going on.

And so I spent the entire evening, all intentions of watching the TV forgotten. I spent some hours in the online dating site, fascinated by the notices of people seeking partners. It took a while for me to realize that these were normal and real people like me and that most of them put up real pictures of themselves for others to look at. I was staggered at the number of singles out there who were looking for online dates. Have I misjudged online dating? Am I missing out on meeting someone because I didn’t understand it?

An hour later I had created an online dating account, composed my own profile and uploaded my photo. Is something actually going to happen? What happens if there are no responses?

I needn’t have worried. Not only was online dating a great experience, I met my wife there a few weeks later. If you are single and struggling to meet mister or miss right, I suggest you log in right now.