Back to Home > Thursday, Sep 21, 2006 Living Posted on Thu, Sep. 21, 2006 email this print this <... The HookUp: Save face when

Giving advice always comes back to bite you in the butt. When a friend whined about never meeting decent, date-worthy men, I pointed out it might be because she's a hermit. And then I gave the following advice: "You have to meet people to actually meet people."

Guess what this so-called friend said to me when I freaked out the tiniest bit about possibly meeting guys I've chatted with during my online dating experiment?

This part of online dating stops me every time. It's not enough to get an ego boost from the many grandfathers and couples who find you attractive. Apparently you can't trade e-mails with your virtual suitors forever. Sooner or later, someone will mention calling and, God forbid, meeting. Then what?

You can't chicken out, that's for sure. If you're going to take the Internet route to a relationship, you have to be prepared to follow it. Besides, meeting a guy you've been chatting up for weeks is way better than buying a drink for some random guy at a bar.

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