That's a high %. I didn't think it was that high in my experience but I'm probably too nice. Once my date showed up 40lb heavier and 10 years older than his photo. I asked him why he would lie like that. He said he didn't know.

Yeah that’s the problem with the internet, it’s easier lie about who you are, obviously people can lie about other stuff in person but on the internet even the basics can be lied about.

@Janiesuper

He probably thought his hot sexuality and great personality would cause you to overlook the fact that he lied.

@LiterateHiker I wouldn't even think of doing that. Over the years I've had every combination of long/short/no hair and full/sculpted/no beard that just finding a photo that generally matched my appearance would be a struggle.
I'm also blessed with absolutely no distinguishing facial characteristics, so each change in facial/hair styling radically changes my appearance.

Truth is very important. I prefer meeting open and intelligent people. I'm always up front with I'm crazy as a loon and smart as a whip and just plain weird, in a safe way.

Honesty for me is everything! I'm 77 & do hike seven miles. body and mind. Open.

@Literatehiker
LH!!!
I've seriously thought of combining all your "dating" posts into a book. I think it would be a best seller. Might be a Netflix or Si-Fi channel mini-series in it too!!!

@bigpawbullets

Thanks. With dating, it's important to have a sense of humor.

Last night I watched the first episode of a new reality series, "Dating Around" by Netflix. BOR-ing! to quote my daughter.

A vain, self-described mysterious guy met a series of pretty young women in a restaurant. He asked the same questions. Yawn.

Volunteer work. I like that idea.

I think being a sweaty mess at the gym isn't gonna do me any favors meet women ?

Have you ever met anyone in a grocery store? In the thousands of times I have been to the grocery store, I have never met anyone, not even a cashier, and I talk to strangers on elevators. How do you meet a woman in a grocery store without looking obvious? I can think of a whole slew of double entendres that might get a laugh or slapped most likely.

I started looking more at the grocery store. I look at what they but to see if they are single and cultured. I've found a few I like but too chicken to talk.

@Sciguy7000 definitely not in the free weight area but after a class we are always talking amongst ourselves. It’s a great place to get to know people without coming off creepy. By the way, I’m not looking my best either.

@Sticks48 I have met people at the grocery store.

@Janiesuper Interesting thing about the grocery store I usually go to is that it actually has a salad bar and hot bar as part of its deli department, and tables and chairs where you can actually eat. And recently, they added a Starbuck's within the store. It adds some possibilities.

@Green_eyes Have you dated someone you met at the grocery store?

@Sticks48 I’ve gotten numbers but honestly I’m too chicken to follow up.

@Green_eyes What are some of the ways they approach you at the grocery store?

@Deiter Generally, not much. I'm having a better month than usual lately tho. Instead of my average of meeting a new woman every three months, I look to be meeting two of them this month.......As one of the female members of this site said to me in a PM about online dating with paid sites, there's just too much fucking competition on paid sites from better-looking people.....Honestly Deiter, I think your job-seeking and my online dating are two sides of the same coin.....

All very well said and sadly true! I go to alot of places solo and unfortunately everybody else that's at those places are with somebody and pretty much established in their own little cliques.

@Lisamarie68 That's even pretty much true at the music club that I go to occasionally to hear a reggae band play at. The crowd is pretty much the same people every time. Most of them coupled up and the ones that aren't are usually with a clique and not interested in meeting anybody new. It's also that way with a dance bar that is very popular in my area that everybody says is a great place for singles to meet someone at. I went there once for an hour to observe things at peak time and it was just like the music club in these ways.

You make a lot of good points. I am already doing all those kinds of things that involve interests I already had before becoming widowed. Those things do add to my life, as do my continued friendships. But I still miss having a partner and will be a lot happier if I find one. I was single until I was 36 and just know that I am much happier with a partner than without. Those years with my late wife before her dementia were the best and happiest years of my adult life for good reason. I want that again, even if it's with someone very different than her. I'm not going to fall into lying or rationalizing about that like I see so many people do on this forum.

@TomMcGiverin I'm sorry about your late wife's passing and her mental decline leading up to her death. That had to be hard for you. I have no doubt that your path will cross with another's, someone with whom you're compatible, if you're getting out and keeping active in ways that allow you to meet new people regularly. I don't think it happens overnight for most of us, but I'm confident it will happen for you eventually. Don't despair.

@resserts Thanks, dude. I guess after my wife's death, I thought it would not take that long to meet someone compatible to at least date, considering that my marriage to her was my only LTR and that it was a long and happy marriage. But instead I have found that my one good marriage and relationship resume doesn't., at least not by itself, impress anyone about my credentials as a potential partner with women on Match. That is a disappointment and a bitter pill to swallow. It seems like women who are divorced, which is the vast majority on dating sites, prefer to date fellow divorcees than men who are widowed. I'm sure they have their reasons, one of which is they want a partner who has shared that experience, but it galls me that they are picking that over meeting someone who might be better at relationships that someone who has had a failed marriage.

I will give someone a chance even if they have been divorced, but at the same time, there's a good reason some people are divorced. In my case, it's not my fault that I'm widowed and I'd like to think that counts for something with most women.

@resserts I still think it's more likely to happen from a dating site than from being out and active offline because offline stuff is still way too small a pool of women to end up meeting the kind of woman who would be compatible for me. My late wife and I are very offbeat people in my local area, part of a subculture that includes maybe a couple percent of the adults our age in the area. Same % as non-believers in general, 2-3%. Need a very large pool of single women to reach that small group of women anytime in the coming years. The only offline place that would have much of a pool of women that are my type is the local Unitarian church. But I'm not willing to go back there yet and put up with being around all the male assholes who are there.

@MissKathleen I hope she thinks the same way XD

Aww so !

@MissKathleen Yes this is the one =P

We don't have a home depot but we have a Lowe's and I have planted trees and multched before lol.

@McWalsoft I think.Lowes is better

That would be great but... I live in a tourist destination and most men just want to have fun while they are here for an event. Then want to git it and quit it, as they say.

@Wildflower I'm not sure there's any way to get away from that, tourist spot or not. I guess I was thinking more of specific tourist destinations, and less about general vacation destinations, like the Smithsonian's Air and Space Musem.

@F-IM-Forty same experience which is why I said i met friends...Not romantic interests. All young people..but worth meeting. Maybe their parents are divorced or separate. Lol. I didn't really do the volunteering to meet men...it was to meet anyone. I'm relatively new to FL and i don't have many friends here yet. When i do volunteer I get a sense of camaraderie which is nice.

@Dandewine Florida is the most difficult place to meet people I have ever been, including foreign countries. The locals tend to not like outsiders, lots of seasonal and transient people, very little sense of community.

@MizJ. Yes. I have discovered this to be true!

I like the idea of volunteering at an animal shelter, but I am hesitant to do so because I am a purebred dog breeder and am afraid I will be pressured by the very vocal "adopt, don't shop" contingent! I'm not sure if it's a good place to meet people with whom to socialize, but it is a good way to help the animals!

Not sure it's a good idea to approach someone walking or running alone on a hiking trail. All kinds of shit could happen!

@jerry99 Could be seen as an attacker or rapist and get you maced or pepper-sprayed...at least if you are male....

@F-IM-Forty
Yes!
It’s easier to get ‘em in the rebound!

Book stores can be good. I'll never forget the time I met an interesting woman at one. I put her name and number in my phone, but I was so nervous that I forgot to hit "SAVE", so I wasn't able to call her

@Markss76118 damn

That's where I go often. Mostly women talk me

I tried this twice. Maybe I picked the wrong groups but it was awkward and I never went back

Depending on the group they seem either super, cultishly focused on the topic, or checking each other out.

meet me, somewhere--
??

@Skeezwazzle I might if you were a bit closer. ?

@Lisamarie68 We're 9 hours apart by car--

No excuses right?

@Janiesuper nope