Dating Services

Anyone may be able to find sex in the city, but what if you're looking for a serious long-lasting relationship that might lead to commitment —no, not in a mental institution, but in front of an altar?
Most of us find ourselves looking for love in all the wrong places —the local bar, the office place and even the long line-up at Social Services.

We meet people who can't take care of themselves, are already attached, are scared of intimacy, are just killing time waiting around until they fall in love with the real thing, have to much emotional baggage, are alcoholics, drug addicts, or more interested in repeating some tragic, self-destructive emotional pattern.

Even if we "get lucky" at one of these places, we often end up optimistically mistaking sex for love, and place unrealistic expectations on a partner who is not willing to go forward with us into the future.

Then there's the matter of our busy schedules. Not too many single people have the time or energy to hang out at the libraries, laundromats or clubs where the old fashioned etiquette books have always advised us to go to meet someone nice.

Perhaps that's why more people than ever are using dating and introduction services. Using one of these services eliminates the fuss and muss of dealing with the modern inconvenience of recovering from a hangover after a long night of waiting around all night in a smoky bar hoping to meet Mr. or Mrs. Right.

Also, using an introduction service is much safer for women. Your best bet is to find a hands-on matchmaking service that screens their male candidates and checks their background for such things as marital status, financial solvency and a criminality. Using an introduction service is also much safer than meeting someone through a free dating service on the internet.

Your chances of meeting a jerk there are just as high as if you had gone into a sleazy bar, as anyone can lie about their history when they submit their personality profiles on-line. The bottom line, according to the dating service owners I spoke to, is: "You get what you pay for..."

According to a study called Dating and the Internet by Ian Nethercott, more and more of us are becoming disillusioned with such societal ills as alcoholism and infidelity and during the nineties turned to more and more to our computers to find a mate.

The failure of the internet to produce anything but even more illusions about love, has renewed singles' interest in old fashioned match-making services.

The wonderful world that is dating

Ahh, dating. It inspires such passion... and heartbreak. It's the subject none of us like to talk about. It's ugly, it's horrible and it's got a big face with a twisted look on it. It scares people off. No one ever likes to go through with it, yet we need the results. We need the results to help us get into solid and trusting relationships and eventually find love with decent people who we want to spend the rest of our lives with. The good news is that there is a ray of hope in internet dating.

With dating, you can take it all in different approaches. Whether it be online dating or the old fashioned way of being set up on a blind date, we've got our preferences to what way of finding love we chose and prefer. But for those wanting a head start in the dating world and are in need of some quick dating tips, we've got them for you right here. Here are some of our favorite tips for those wanting to tread water and meet new people in the dating world:

Join a comedy class. If he makes you laugh, then that means he's a keeper. Your average stand up class is a festival of testosterone. Those with the true talent to make people laugh tend to usually be emotional and self-centered, but if he makes you laugh anyway then you may be willing to put up with the occasional episodes of insecurity.
Car shows. Sure, you'd rather be out shopping, but just close your eyes and pretend that you're at the mall. Guys who are really into cars tend to be very capable and good with their hands, even if they sometimes provide you with more information about your car rather than about himself. A good and easy one-liner such as "Hey, nice car!" usually does the trick.
The good old bar. Skip the trendy bars with icy women with mile high heels and snarky men with neon-colored shirts and fake bottled tans. If you want to find a nice, laid back kind of guy that is a natural conversation starter, then your local firefighter pub is the place to be. Plus, those guys who weren't popular during high school make excellent boyfriends now. That is the best piece of dating wisdom we can bestow upon you.
Business conferences. Here you can meet good, ambitious men who not only look good in suites but are smart too. (What a combination!) Strike up a conversation around your mutual business interests then ask how they got to where they are today. You'll learn about his path of life so far, including education and goals. But before you jump into anything big, make sure you check his left hand so you don't end up getting yourself in a sticky situation with a man who is already in a relationship.