So Where Is This Going?

They say that moving home is one of the most stressful things you can do in your life. I've moved flat every summer for four years and the chaos this causes never ceases to amaze me. I managed to secure myself a bed at a flat where a few of my male friends reside, and also managed to talk them into letting me keep my stuff there until Friday which is when I get the keys to my new pad. I have just got off the phone with the other two girls who I'm moving in with at the end of the week, and apart from the fact they currently don't have anywhere to stay, the one who drives has just managed to lock both her car keys and her phone inside her Fiesta. The words 'fuck my life' have never rang so true with her. And it definitely, definitely isn't funny.

So excellent news! POF boy is still texting me despite the fact I gave the impression I should possibly consider a spell in The Priory. I think I'm of the impression that boys spend ages thinking, re-thinking and analysing the personality traits of women when infact they aren't really as bothered as us girls would be. We actually had a small, diluted version of the 'where is this going' chat and established we both liked talking to each other but because we've never actually met it would be good to keep the pace slow. Quite rightly, I imagine he is obviously concerned that I could turn out to be a 56 year old shemale looking for love whereas my main fear is having my picture appear on the back of milk cartons after he's chopped me up and fed me to the fishes. Some may call these thoughts irrational when the word they're actually looking for is plausible.

I've been thinking about the stigma associated with internet dating. People ask me all the time what's going on in my love life and when I reveal I'm texting someone who I met online, do not know in person and that - shock horror - things are going well, they look at me like I've just said I thought Osama Bin Laden was well fit. 'Be careful', 'That's sad', 'Can you not meet someone local'...all comments I've endured time and time again. Why is internet dating still thought of in unsavoury terms?

I'll admit you'd only have to look at the more uncouth messages in my inbox on POF for evidence as to why joining online dating communities could be considered a bad idea. But when I'm on a night out and I've got guys touching my bum, looking at my boobs and making comments or whistling, how is that any better? I'd actually like to apply some of the options available to me online to my next night out. For example I'd like boys to give me their vital statistics in text format, with a blurb about themselves so I don't waste time talking to someone who Typ3s LiiK3 ThiiS BbZ. I would also enjoy having the ability to delete boys on a night out, so they just disappear into the atmosphere. Furthermore, having the ability to 'Add Them To My Favourites' or 'keep them on file for future use' if you will, would also be more than handy.

So before you slag off internet dating, take a look at the more positive aspects of looking for love online. Mind you, someone has yet to give me a photo of their willy on a night out - although I have witnessed lads 'helicoptering' their prized possesion. I rest my case.