THE CASE AGAINST DATING

            Since I am now a widow, a few of my friends (not many) can't understand why I won't start "dating" again, as if I were once again in my 20s or 30s. Even putting aside the terrible risk known as "Stranger Danger," and even ignoring the fact that there's nowhere that I have any interest in going (whether for the purpose of meeting men or not), I can't even imagine the horrific waste of time involved in meeting some random stranger who happens to cross my path, and trying to figure out if we have anything in common or not. Futility and extreme tedium are the first descriptions that come to mind at such an abysmal thought.

            They say that they worry about me, being without a man. One of the worriers even gives me the impression that he resents my unwillingness to take up with another man, just so that he can stop worrying! I would like for him to understand that, if I suddenly start running around with strange men, THAT'S when he should start to worry. As long as I stay safely in here in my home, he does NOT need to worry.

            For those who so desperately want to see me with a man again, I would say that the ONLY chance of that happening would be if one of a VERY few rare men from my distant past were to resurface. I can count on the fingers of one hand (and not use them all) the number of men from my past to whom I would consider giving it a chance in the unlikely event of their turning up again in my life. There actually WAS one, and I DID give it a chance, and he turned out to be a psychopath, and interested only in the abysmal no-so-fine art commonly known as "bilking the widow." Most distasteful! And yes, that experience made me even more cautious.