I had given up on the dating scene. Sure, I was only in my mid-20s and maybe my contempt for dating was a little impulsive, but I stand by my decision that online dating works. Why? Because I met my wife online.

Friends suggested I experiment with different ways of dating. Speed dating was suggested, but somehow the idea of packing into a bar and working my way up an assembly line of desperate singles didn't resonate all that well with me. Quick lunch dates were suggested, including ones that could be worked out by an agency. Nah, try again. Something about that didn't jive. After a few flops in the dating world, I was done with the whole venture for a while. Go ahead. Call me a quitter.

I retreated to my incredibly succinct and amazingly hip private life of working during the day and logging on to internet chat rooms during the evenings. Ah, this was more like it!

Gone was the thumping club beat that so often accompanied my many failures with females, gone was drink in the face, and gone was the ugly sting of rejection. Here, online, I was liberated.

Logging into a chat room became a nightly occurrence, often accompanied by a bag of Doritos and a beer. Conversations were fast and furious, especially those emanating from 'Hot Singles Chat Room 19'.

One day - a day that would change my life forever - a chat window opened to a charming young woman who called herself 'Odango'. She said that she had seen me being an idiot in the room and proceeded to tell me all about the idiot I was being. Needless to say, she tore me a new one. I blew it off and continued about my business, generally making fun of the whole situation and the idea of people dating online.

Within hours, though, I was sucked in. I tried to argue my shaky position of dating being the mother of all evils. However, 'Odango' and I drew closer together, agreed to meet, and the rest is history.

Lesson learned? Hardly. I still make fun of people who date online. I just opportunely leave out my own reality.

Tom

Tom is a reader of this blog and submitted this post. We'd love to hear from you. Feel free to share your thoughts, feelings or stories about dating.