To click or not to click?!

Exactly when will the 'click' happen between you and the stranger?

The story of Susan and Dave happens all the time to those who are dating online. Although the click didn't happen, at least they recognized each other. I heard numerous stories about people who use old photos, lying about their age, height, body type, and even marital status. Don't they know they can't hide the truth forever?! I simply couldn't understand.

Just like some people walks faster or slower than others, people who date online have their own pace. Some would email back and forth for months, some ask for a date in the second message.

I once dated a guy who looked good in the profile. We exchanged phone number and had a pleasant conversation over the phone. He planned for a big date, dinner followed by karaoke. We were both confident that it would be a great date, but realized it could be a mistake in the first 2 minutes. We tried to make it work. The date was as enjoyable as it could be, albeit a little awkward. He kept saying: "This is great." for about 10 times. Trying to convince himself? By the end of it, we were kind of relieved and felt a little unfortuanite that neither of us felt the click.

Don't get me wrong. He is a very decent person. There is absolutely nothing about him that anyone would complain about. The click simply didn't happen.

Some dating sites take you through baby steps to know the other person on paper before you can even message each other freely. Some are completely open so you have no idea if your date is a VP of a corporation or a fireman. (I know, I know, I shouldn't define a person by his occupation, but...you get the point. )

After all the profiling, matching, searching, chatting, online dating's success rate is still below our expectation. Speed dating forces you to spend 5 minutes of your life with someone totally out of your league (higher or lower) just because he or she is in the same age bucket as you. Isn't there a better way to do this?

And what if you are lucky that you do click on the first sight or the first date. Who knows if the attraction will stay? On the other hand, it's not unusual to suddenly click with someone you knew a no more than a friend from the past.

Looking at the happy couples around us. I wonder how they did it.