Let's Try Dating. It Will Be Fun. Law, Mercy

So far, nothing has gone wrong, ftr, but I fully expect something to become tabloidesque knowing my luck. I signed up on a whim out of boredom for Plenty of Fish. Apparently there were NOT plenty of fish out there because I was hammered with "They said Yes" and messages from all sorts of people. Several of the people said that I seemed, "real". It makes me want to see other women's profiles now. I found it bizarre that people who never read my profile would say they wanted to meet me. WTF? If you make your call by a picture, then I seriously doubt your critical thinking skills. Some people are fairly nice: "How is your day?" Others are dumb as dirt: "your hott" Some are weird: "Have you ever chatted with someone who is active military before?" (Why does this matter?) Some want to influence me: "Come to the dark side-you'll never look back." "I am looking for someone to build a faith-based r

This does not include any of the flirtations, etc., from the past. This is all since Fall 2018. As far as I'm concerned, anything prior was just marking time. So, I fell into a relationship of sorts, totally out of the blue in the fall. I wasn't looking, didn't pursue it, didn't even see it coming. But he did, so we had a good time for a couple of months. I already knew he had dating issues--he had told me that ahead of time when we were just friends, but I didn't get what he was trying to tell me. Then he kept moving things forward, so I went along. Just about the time I was actuall beginning to let my guard down, he freaked out and dumped me. On my anniversary. In a parking lot. I was blindsided. I couldn't be mad at him because he said I scared him--in that he didn't want to be serious. He was looking for 24-48 hours and we had gone way past that mark. He had nothing but compliments and was genuinely upset that he was hurting me. How can you argue.

I have never really dated anyone outside of high school. I have had the most pathetic relationship experiences in the history of the world. Married 24 years---that was a bust--about the time we really started dating and settling into a relationship, PREGNANT. So, I got married and moved forward. To say that was a mistake is an understatement, but I can't complain about the rewards that came from it. I'm just paying the price now. I have no idea how the heck to do the dating thing. I am still like a high schooler in that I get my feelings hurt in a blink, I doubt myself constantly and I manage to put myself in the worst possible situations when available. On the plus side, I've made some great friends over the years and I'll take that over some sappy date or tawdry affair any day of the week. Apparently, I'm the person men want to be friends with, but not date, lol. I get it. I wouldn't want to date me. But I'm going to try it and see what happens. It beat