so, i have to admit that several months back (it may be closer to a year at this point) i signed with eharmony during a promotion in which they were offering discounted membership costs. maybe i did it because i’m jewish and i couldn’t pass up the deal. maybe i did it because i was going through the occasional bout of relationship longing (despiration?). i don’t know why i did it, and while the service did pick out a couple of girls for me, all of them were on the mainland and i didn’t see the point. when the promotion was over, i terminated my membership, though eharmony continues to keep my ‘file’ open in case i ever rejoin.

as a result, of course, i now get regular emails from the asking me to rejoin and emails informing me of the most current promotion. i’ve resisted reenrolling because i figure if they found any more girls, they’d all be on the mainland and i’d be out $50 bucks.

recently though, i’ve been thinking about giving another go. again, maybe it’s the jew in me, but when their regular membership fee is $40(approx.) a month and they’re offering me a three month membership for $50, i have to admit i have to force myself not to sign up again. the question is why? is it the money that i worry about? or is it something else?

since the internet became the place to find everything from wives to drugs to recipies for bombs, people have been heckled for using internet dating services. yes, i’ve been one of the hecklers, but i clearly have been among those heckled as well. and i’ve been trying to figure out why internet dating services are so looked down upon. is it because there is the notion that only losers who can’t get a date on their own turn to those services? i’m sure that may be the case, but more and more ‘average’ people have been using these various services to find mr. or mrs. right. and i’m not sure that there’s anything wrong with it. my mom met my step-dad at a jewish singles group, which as far as i’m concerned is the 80s equivalent to JDate.

i feel like at this point the only reason i haven’t reenrolled is because i’m fairly confident any girls directed my way would have mainland addresses. hawaii is a small place with a small dating pool. and the older i get, the harder i feel it is (will be) to find someone. so why shouldn’t i give it a try? i mean, despite their locations, some of the girls ‘matched’ to me seemed to have at least some potential (i gathered from their profiles/pictures). i still don’t plan on staying here forever (though one never really knows), so wouldn’t it make at least a bit of sense to give it a shot again, even if the pool of choices is on the mainland?

really, what i guess i’m looking for is a reasoned, sound argument for not ponying up another $50 for the promotional enrollment. to be perfectly honest, i can’t think of a single one other than at the end of three months i’ll be $50 poorer and in the same predicament. despite that, however, i figure that’s not much to lose for just trying.