I’ve made the decision that online dating is not for me. I had begun to suspect as much after the last fiasco, but my most recent episode has confirmed it as fact.

David, a 33 year old man from Orange City, FL, owned his own home, had a great job and even had a boat. His profile picture featured him with a beautiful black lab named Toby. We emailed over the course of a weekend and on Sunday, he asked me to join him for lunch at Chili’s for our first meeting. It went very well. There was a lot of chemistry right from the get-go. I tried not to get too excited about the potential I saw between us but it was difficult. Over the course of the next week, he was out of town for his job, but he texted me constantly. We had some great flow back and forth. A lot of anticipation was building up for me regarding our next meeting. I couldn’t wait to see him again.

Friday evening, he came over to pick me up so we could go out. We went to Cheers, my favorite Karaoke hang-out. We had a couple of beers, a shot or two, sang some vintage tunes and just had fun getting to know each other. It seemed like we were going to end the evening on a high and I was already excited to see him again over the weekend. He invited me out to spend the day on his boat on the water for our next date and even wanted me to bring my dog. Everything seemed to be going so well and despite the warning voice in the back of my mind heeding me not to jump the gun, I felt relieved to have finally met someone worthwhile.

I’ve never been so wrong.

He took me home and came inside so we could talk some more. Within 20 minutes of being there, he seemed to digress from the concept of ‘getting to know you’ right to hanky-panky mode. First of all, I’m no prude. I’m very aware of myself as a sexual being and I am not ashamed to admit that I absolutely enjoy sex. But I’ve never been the promiscuous type. I’m not one to fall into bed with someone simply because the chemistry is right on a second date. Regardless of how great things were going, I had absolutely no intention of sleeping with David so early on and I never gave him cause to believe so at any point during our evening together.

He came on pretty strong and the change in the general mood between us shifted so quickly, that I seemed to be processing what was happening moment-to-moment in slow-motion. Before I knew it, I was cornered in my ktichen and he was standing in front of me, trying to kiss me and paw at me. I pushed him back and told him that I was not yet ready to do this with him and he proceeded to try to convince me otherwise. Unfortunately, his method of coercion proved to be his downfall.

He stepped forward, his hands on the button of his jeans. I watched in complete and utter shock while he whipped ‘it’ out in the middle of my freaking kitchen. He like steered it toward me, wiggling it at me as if I should feel compelled to fall on my knees or something. I pushed him back and said, “What are you doing? I told you I’m not ready for this.”

He got angry almost instantly and went off. He said something about how I’d probably never be ready, about how I was ‘one of those’ types of girls. I can only begin to guess what ‘one of those’ types even means.

When it was clear that I was not giving in on this issue, he threw his hands up in the air and said, “I don’t fucking need this,” and stormed out of my apartment, slamming the door behind him.

My jaw dropped instantly and I think it sat on my kitchen floor for a total of at least ten minutes. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. How had it all gone so wrong?

The next couple of days, he texted me incessantly. He apologized profusely but I was more than a little hesitant to see if we could move beyond the incident. In my mind, he had just demonstrated a very significant trait in terms of personal integrity and character. If he could do something like that, what else was he capable of? I’ve never been so turned off in my life.

I’ve since removed my profile from all of the dating sites that I was on. I’m over it. Sure, I still want to find that special someone to live out my own personal happily-ever-after. But in lieu of perpetually flaunting myself on every kind of free dating site out there, I’ve decided to wait for him to find me. If it’s meant to be, it will and so I will concentrate my efforts on continually improving myself as an individual and progressing on my own path. And if nothing else, at least I don’t have to sleep alone. My dog Sophie happens to be a great cuddle-buddy.